College Station and Texas A&M are partnering to create tourist attractions and recoup up to $4 million in missing revenue. The Destination Strategic Plan, led by Visit College Station, aims to set a strategic vision for the destination, create a three-year roadmap, and enhance College Station’s competitive positioning.

Goals and Initiatives

The initiative’s goals include finding balance with residents, businesses, and visitors. Visit College Station estimates that the university and city have lost up to $4 million in academic business due to a lack of conference hosting. To address this, the bureau plans to host up to eight annual conferences, which could generate up to 12,000 hotel room bookings.

Another major focus is creating more leisure events to attract overnight guests. This will include developing an ‘anchor event’ along with service packages for organizers. The city currently has limited music venues, but the renovation of the Wolf Pen Creek amphitheater is expected to correct this. Visit College Station estimates up to 12,000 more potential hotel bookings and a 25% to 40% increase in regional impact events overall.

Partnership and Support

College Station Mayor John Nichols and Council member Scott Shafer, who is also the executive director of campus and community enrichment at Texas A&M, expressed support for the plan. The council voted to unanimously pass this initiative, which is expected to last for the coming years in an effort to grow College Station’s tourism scene outside of the university’s athletic events.

Original reporting: Community Impact — Houston — read the source article.