What to know
The tourism advisory board will serve as an advisory council and work to make recommendations to Convention & Visitors Bureau Director John Mayner about promotional opportunities, per the agenda packet.
The board will consist of nine voting members, of whom two will be City Council members and four will be nonvoting members, including the city administrator and Convention & Visitors Bureau director, according to the rules and bylaws approved by City Attorney William Ferebee. The members will be appointed by the City Council for two-year terms.
The CVB is funded by the municipal hotel occupancy taxes that bring the city revenue, which must be used for promoting tourism, according to the Texas Comptroller's office. The 2025-26 budget for the CVB is estimated at $2.11 million, compared to $1.39 million in 2024-25, an increase of $720,000.
Digging deeper
The city currently has a total of 13 hotels, nine entertainment venues and five shopping centers, according to its tourism website.
In the Houston area, the following neighboring cities also have an advisory committee:What they’re saying
“[The board] creates the opportunity to plan and project using the ideas and vision that our hotel operators primarily, and our food and beverage folks would have, but it gives our citizens a chance to participate as well,” council member Frank Robinson said. "It's a platform to the people who are affected by the [hotel occupancy] tax."
“I did not see an advantage in setting up a hierarchy that essentially says that one director has to have a committee ... I just don't think that it's something that's necessary to do,” Raymaker said. "I'm against having too many committees for anything."
“We need a plan, a tourism advisory board would give our hotel partners a seat at the table, bring in professional marketing input and help us stay competitive,” council member John Pollard said.
