With the arrival of summer, the Pearland Convention & Visitors Bureau is working to bring more travelers and visitors to the area with a new hotel package. The promotion aims to boost Pearland’s hotel occupancy, which translates into increased tax revenue for the city, officials said.

The special—which the PCVB named “Shake, Rattle & Roll”—applies to hotel stays on Friday and Saturday nights through Sept. 5. The packages include a Pearland Town Center Visitor Savings Pass and tickets to local attractions, such as the 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport and theater productions in the area. Six of the 11 hotels within Pearland city limits are participating in the promotion, PCVB Executive Director Kim Sinistore said.

The PCVB launched the summer promotion after receiving a grant from Visit Houston, the city of Houston’s Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“We are thankful we were offered this first-time grant, which was offered to regional CVB tourism offices,” Sinistore said. “It helps us to be able to elevate and market Pearland for weekend summer packages.”

Pearland’s hotel industry

As rooms fill up in Pearland hotels, the city collects revenue from hotel occupancy taxes. The HOT tax in Pearland is a 7 percent charge on overnight rooms that cost more than $2 per day, including both hotels and home rentals. The state mandates a tax to be imposed on rooms costing $15 or more per day, but local governments are authorized to impose taxes on lower rates, officials said.

PCVB aims to keep city hotel activity strong[/caption]

HOT tax revenue collected year-to-date through April 2016 total $692,563, which is up from $476,825 in April 2015. The total revenue for 2016 is forecast to be $1,535,233, according to the PCVB.

Deputy City Manager Jon Branson said Pearland’s hotel industry is healthy, but there are some changes he would like to see made.

“Ideally speaking, what we would like to see here in Pearland is an additional hotel to provide larger conventions for us,” he said. “Right now, the Hilton Garden Inn has the largest conference center. It fits approximately 400 people, and that’s great and works for smaller conferences and family reunions, but in order to get some of the bigger conferences and trade shows, we need something larger.”

In the meantime, the growing medical manufacturing industry in Pearland has helped its hotels stay full as workers travel into the area, Branson said. The recent opening of area medical facilities, such as Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital, has boosted hotel stays, he said.

Pearland also receives visitors who come to the Greater Houston area for larger events but are looking to stay at a less expensive location, Branson said. The PCVB continues to work to promote its local hotels and keep Pearland’s hotel industry thriving, which is important because it is an indicator of the city’s overall health.

“Hotel stays relate to retail, travel, local restaurants—it’s an indicator of how our overall economy is doing because it’s a barometer of what is ongoing in the community,” he said. “It helps us to be able to attract businesses. It’s self-perpetuating.”

Promotion details

Visit Houston awarded funding to 14 tourism organizations in the Greater Houston area through its Matching Grant Program. The grants—which totaled $250,000—are intended to help recipient marketing campaigns.

PCVB aims to keep city hotel activity strong[/caption]

Because Houston and its surrounding communities have a large number of hotels for visitors, it is the PCVB’s job to make the city a distinguishable destination, she said.

“Every destination has its own sort of niche offering and specialty, and for Pearland, our niche is our proximity to Houston,” Sinistore said “And we have very good [hotel] pricing.”

Although the oil and gas industry downturn has affected the economy of the Greater Houston area, Pearland’s hotels are filled by visitors and workers in a variety of industries, Sinistore said. Travelers come to the area for events and weddings, medical travel and larger events like sports tournaments or the recent Offshore Technology Conference in downtown Houston.

However, some local hotel owners said they have felt the effects of the economic slowdown. Rushi Patel, vice president of operations for Omkar Enterprises Management LLC—the company that oversees the Hampton Inn and Springhill Suites in Pearland, said his properties’ overall occupancy is down compared to 2015. Because of lower demand and more hotels opening in surrounding areas, Springhill Suites is participating in the PCVB’s summer promotion.

“At the moment, any exposure we can get—and rooms booked—helps us,” Patel said.