Marble Falls hires tourism director
Kayla Gostnell, the new director of tourism and sales for the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau, stands near her office in the Visitor Center on Second Street. Staff photo by Alecia Ormsby
Kayla Gostnell, the new director of tourism and sales for the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, calls Marble Falls the “hidden gem of Texas.”
“So many things to see and do!” said Gostnell, who was hired in August for the new position.
Raised in Johnson City, she was educated at Texas Tech University in Lubbock and has 10 years’ experience promoting tourism in Fort Worth, Arlington, and Paris, Tennessee. She is happy to return to the Texas Hill Country.
“There’s a certain hospitality in the Hill Country that is what we are back for,” Gostnell said when asked why she and her husband returned. “It’s the people that make the difference.”
Just over a month ago, her husband, Gary Gostnell, an orthopaedic physician assistant, left Arlington to join Dr. Heather Chambers, an orthopedist with Baylor Scott & White Specialty Clinic-Marble Falls. “The week after my husband’s job opened, the tourism job in Marble Falls was posted,” Gostnell said. “We are very fortunate.”
The couple lives on a family ranch near Round Mountain in Kayla’s great-grandparents’ home.
“I look forward to the warm fuzzy feelings of Christmas in a small town,” she said.
Her background recruiting large groups to come to the Arlington and Fort Worth areas can now be applied to Marble Falls.
“We have tremendous potential here for retreats, family reunions, or as a wedding destination,” Gostnell said. “We’re not looking for massive groups but appropriate for our size, with individuals searching for small-town charm.”
As she visits Marble Falls restaurants and shops, she’s fallen in love with the many jewels she has found in the city.
“We depend upon our wonderful local businesses to keep visitors coming and to sustain it,” Gostnell said. “We’d like to make Marble Falls a destination for motor coaches that pass through here all the time. It is an excellent stop along the way for visitors driving north or south through the heart of Texas in Marble Falls.”
