Sister Cities Festival drew about 19,000 visitors, organizers say

Staff member presented the CVB's special report on the 22nd annual Sister Cities Festival, held July 10–12, and said it drew strong attendance and measurable hotel-night impacts. "The festival attracted approximately 19,000 attendees over 3 days while hosting 210 international vendors," the staff member said.

The report summarized exhibitor and visitor survey data and the CVB's use of new visitor-mobility tools to track crowd flow. Staff said those surveys and tracking produced a survey-based total of 588 overnight accommodations (441 hotel room nights and 147 Airbnb room nights) for the festival weekend, and that visitor check-ins generated 98 completed visitor surveys representing about 40 different originating cities. Staff noted that the mobility tracking captures U.S.-based devices and therefore does not include cross-border (Mexican) device traffic.

Staff framed the festival as both a cultural and economic driver: mobility reports showed peak activity between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and staff said many visitors stayed for more than an hour, boosting dining and retail activity nearby. The presentation also reviewed marketing outreach (billboards, TV interviews, targeted digital ads) that staff credited with increasing regional attendance.