Bastrop officials are sharpening their focus on tourism and community storytelling through a new department called Discover Bastrop.

The department is tasked with promoting the city’s natural beauty, historic downtown, and growing arts scene to visitors across Texas and beyond.

The details

The city launched Discover Bastrop after choosing not to renew its contract with Visit Bastrop in September—a destination marketing organization that had promoted economic growth in Bastrop by attracting visitors for leisure, conventions and other events since 2018.

“Visit Bastrop was essentially a contracted organization that the city had funded through [hotel occupancy taxes] to do all of the marketing efforts for the city,” Michaela Joyce, Discover Bastrop director and Main Street Manager, said during an Oct. 21 meeting. “There were just some things that the council wanted to see differently, and that some of the community wanted to see differently. So we made some adjustments to be transparent and be more smart with our funding.”


During an Oct. 21 workshop, Bastrop City Council officials also discussed the efficacy of the Bastrop EDC plays in bringing developments to the region. Bastrop city staff will evaluate whether dissolving the EDC is a viable option and will present their findings to city officials at a later date.

The details

There will be five divisions housed under Discover Bastrop:“What an accomplishment,” Place 2 Council Member Cynthia Meyer said. “To move from a contract that we had with [Visit Bastrop], where we spent a lot of money and budgeted that, to being in-house [with Discover Bastrop] ... means more efficiency as far as communication through all departments and means a lot more efficiency with tax dollars.”

What we know


Discover Bastrop, currently a team of nine, is looking to hire three additional positions:
  • Marketing coordinator
  • Social media coordinator
  • Sales manager
“I know that there's been a lot of questions from the public on the Visit Bastrop staff,” Joyce said. “They were previously extended job offers to come over as part of this department, and those offers were declined.”

The Discover Bastrop staff will be housed at the former Visit Bastrop building at 1408 Chestnut St., Ste. B, outside of the Bastrop Convention and Exhibit Center.

Notable quote

“Discover Bastrop represents more than a department,” Joyce said. “It’s a unified effort to tell our story, grow our economy and strengthen our community.”