CITY COUNCIL HEARS REPORT ON TOURISM DOWNTURN

  

Sharon Brass made a presentation today (Thursday) on behalf of the Hotel Occupancy Tax Board to City Council.  She reported that tourism in the county has been going down since the Blue Bell listeria issue occurred in 2015.  Brass said that direct travel spending in Brenham is down by 26 percent and local sales tax revenue from travel is down by 15 percent.

Brass presented numerous charts showing that as tourism revenue decreases in the county, promotion spending on tourism also goes down.   She pointed out that numerous historical sites are currently not open to the public, such as the Brenham Heritage Museum and the Brenham Fire Museum.  Brass encouraged the city invest more in promoting tourism:

Brass suggested that the city establish a tourism board to help develop ideas to promote tourism and guide city council.  Her presentation was part of a workshop session before council, so no action was taken.