A refined focus by The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2016 will result in event production moving under the umbrella of the township’s Parks and Recreation Department. 

The shift will allow the CVB to focus primarily on increasing hotel tax occupancy and marketing The Woodlands to visitors and residents alike, CVB President Nick Wolda said.

“Parks and recreation has the employees and infrastructure to do the production of events, which includes the building of stages and tents, logistics and public safety,” he said. “Whereby, the CVB is going to focus on the marketing of events and how we bring hotel properties in and promote restaurants and shops for these events. It’s a dynamic shift that’s taking place that will allow the CVB team to be more focused on the promotion of The Woodlands as a destination.”

The decision to shift responsibilities began after a review of the events produced annually by the CVB and studying how the organization spends the bulk of its time, CVB chairman Gordy Bunch said. 

“We realized many of the events were community-oriented, and our Parks and Recreation Department has been producing community events all along,” he said. “So you really had two sister organizations doing the same thing.”

For the next year, the plan is to produce the same events in the township, but they will be refined as time goes along, Wolda said.

“2016 will hold the same as far as Fourth of July and holiday celebrations and concerts down at Waterway Square,” he said. “From a residential standpoint, you wouldn’t know [the difference.]”

Since the CVB will no longer handle event production, Bunch said the organization plans to focus on better marketing the number of hotel nights available in The Woodlands with the creation of a customer relationship management system.

“As we work with hoteliers to identify which rooms are available the closer we get to event dates, if there is inventory still available we can push that out to a natural market who will be here,” he said. “We’re going to gather data so we can be proactive. It will expand our revisits, our branding and word of mouth that will come from people who had a positive experience here.”

With the addition of two new hotels—the Westin and Embassy Suites—there will be approximately 675,000 hotel nights available in 2016 in The Woodlands, according to data from the CVB. Such a large inventory of hotel room nights is unique for a community the size of The Woodlands, Bunch said.

“The other draw to our area is the walkability,” he said. “People can come here and stay in a Town Center hotel and get around without having a car. It’s a very relaxing environment.”