National Travel & Tourism Week With Discover Temple

May 19 – 25, 2024 

Established in 1982, National Travel and Tourism Week is an annual tradition that celebrates the travel community in the United States and highlights travel's role in boosting economic growth, creating job opportunities, and inspiring new businesses.

This year's theme, "Sustainable Journeys, Timeless Memories," aligns with Temple's downtown development and other quality visitor experiences. 

During this week, we recognize the travel and tourism industry for its efforts in creating unforgettable experiences, serving individuals and families, and maintaining high standards of hospitality and service. It's also a time to honor the front-line staff whose attention to detail helps deliver exceptional customer service.

In anticipation of National Travel and Tourism Week, the City of Temple’s Destination Marketing Team focused on the area’s assets and the opportunities to share the authentic Temple story. 

The City of Temple’s Destination Marketing Team believes travel and tourism: 

• Encourages self-care and the importance of indulging in leisure activities. 

• Helps the economy – travel boosts the local economy and keeps restaurants, hotels, and other recreational services running. 

• Highlights local cultures – helping the local community showcase local art, cultures, and heritage. 

Tourism is important to Temple’s economy. Even without Florida’s beaches, Colorado’s snowy peaks, or Arizona’s vast canyon, Temple has unique and quality visitor experiences. 

Thousands of visitors come to Temple from all over the country for medical treatments and appointments. They stay in hotels, dine and drink at restaurants and nightspots, and shop for gifts, groceries, gas, and an endless variety of items and services. Through overnight stays visiting family undergoing treatment or visitors coming to receive treatment, Temple receives a major, positive impact on the local economy.  

“Our medical community is big and has a great impact on our destination, but people aren’t just coming to Temple for health reasons,” Teresa Anderson, Destination Marketing Division Director for Discover Temple. “We have much to offer – the Frank W. Mayborn Civic and Convention Center, the Cultural Activities Center, Crossroads Park, museums, and a distinctive and growing downtown.”  

“The city is investing in development, and they are focusing on the quality-of-life improvements that attract new people. Some come to visit while others come to live. With all of the construction, renovations, and new developments, the next 18 to 24 months will bring a lot of change,” said Anderson. 

Temple is poised to attract more conventions and sports tournaments. With tournament-quality sports fields, practice fields, and sports facilities, Temple attracts regional and statewide leagues. 

Following a recent Sports Marketing Strategy report, the Destination Marketing Team is collaborating with the Parks and Recreation Department to develop new sports marketing materials and messaging. The goal is to market Temple more aggressively to tournament organizers for softball, baseball, soccer, and disc golf. 

Meetings, conventions, and tradeshows are an important component of Temple’s economy. Temple’s central location and its diverse range of industries - including healthcare, manufacturing, and technology- bring in valuable revenue, create jobs, and provide a platform for networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration. 

Temple offers multiple meeting locations with the Frank W. Mayborn Civic and Convention Center being the largest in the city with an 18,620 square foot Main Hall. The facility can be configured to offer multiple rooms and varying setups. The city’s Destination Marketing Sales Team is focused on bringing meetings, conferences, tradeshows, and personal celebrations such as weddings to the area.  

Overnight stays and hotel occupancy is a significant revenue-generating tool for the travel and tourism industry. Through CoStar (formerly Smith Travel Research) Discover Temple was able to see that the past 12-month hotel occupancy rate holds strong at 67.3%.   

The travel and tourism industry continues to be a critical driver of the Texas economy. Travel is critical to powering our community and driving growth in our economy and our destination. The city’s new destination website has generated a 58.22% user increase in visitor traffic and a 52% increase in visitor information requests. 

The Destination Team has also launched award-winning campaigns, promotions, and marketing tools.

The department’s Discover YOUR Temple campaign features ways local residents and the visiting public can share their experiences through social media and the destination website. #DiscoverYourTemple

Recently, the destination team developed strategies to highlight the train travel experience to Temple. Details can be found on the All Aboard section of our website.  

A digital electronic publication, The Temple Ticket, gives visitors an opportunity to discover what Temple has in a brand-new way. The Temple Ticket enhances how visitors experience Temple by providing a fun, engaging way to learn more about events, things to do, family fun, and local attractions.

Regarding travel spending and its impact on the destination, Temple's total direct travel spending reached significant numbers in 2023.

Visitors to Temple generated over $183.1 million in direct travel spending – the largest amount ever amassed for the city of Temple.  

Travel sentiment studies show the outlook for travel in 2024 remains strong, with 93% of travelers planning trips during the next six months, the highest level in a year. On their next trips, 64% plan to travel by car to a U.S. destination which positions central Texas and Temple as a viable destination.  

Now is the time to Discover Temple.