Marble Falls pursues tourism title
The Marble Falls Visitor Center is a physical manifestation of the city’s dedication to travel and tourism. Local leadership is leaning into the city’s identity as a destination location and pursuing a state designation as a Tourism Friendly Community. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Marble Falls City Council has proclaimed the city a “tourism-friendly community,” the first major step toward acquiring a state designation that could elevate the city’s profile and bolster the local travel economy.
“We decided (nearly 20 years ago) we were going to be a destination, and that kind of helped us focus on a direction on who we were going to be,” said Mayor Dave Rhodes prior to the reading of an official proclamation declaring the city tourism friendly during the council’s Aug. 20 meeting.
The proclamation stated clearly that tourism was an integral, and desired, part of Marble Falls and that it would continue to be a major aspect of the city’s identity going forward.
“We acknowledge that all travel, whether related to leisure, business, or sports, is beneficial,” it reads. “Welcoming visitors from near and far always has been, and always will be, the enduring ethos of the travel industry and of Marble Falls.”
The proclamation is one of the necessary steps the city is taking to acquire a certified designation as a Tourism Friendly Community through the Governor’s Office’s Tourism Friendly Texas program. The state initiative encourages communities to use tourism and travel as economic drivers for development.
This is the latest effort on the city’s part to encourage visitation, following its designation as a Music Friendly City in January and a Brew City in June.
“Marble Falls is a trade hub, but it is also a tourism hub,” Kayla Gostnell, the city’s tourism manager, told DailyTrib.com. “(The tourism-friendly designation) says that we are a certain caliber, that we are willing to put in the work, that we see the value in these (tourism-related) industries, and we want more of them coming here.”
According to Travel Texas tourism and visitation statistics from 2023:
- people spent around $52.1 million at travel-related businesses in Marble Falls;
- 710 employees were associated with travel industries in the city;
- employees and businesses in travel-related roles in the city earned $24.2 million;
- and Marble Falls brought in about $1.8 million in taxes from travel-related businesses.
“When visitors come in and shop at our shops, eat at our restaurants, or see our attractions, that’s income to those particular establishments, which makes it easier for them to stay in business,” Gostnell said. “We, as residents, benefit from the visitation.”
Gostnell is in the process of getting Marble Falls certified as a Tourism Friendly Community, which she hopes will happen by the end of 2024. The designation requires the city proclaim its dedication to tourism and receive at least three letters of recommendation from local stakeholders. Gostnell also must complete a thorough online training program and fill out a lengthy state questionnaire about the city’s tourism profile.
“We’re a destination, we’re not just some little-bitty city,” she said. “This is a place that people talk about and want to come to.”
2 thoughts on “Marble Falls pursues tourism title”
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Asking for a tourism designation indication requires attention to fundamental detail to keep the city clean.
When folks drive into town over the 281 bridge they see a dirty road bed, grass growing on the side walks, a beach that has grass growing on it…..we can go on.
Go ask other towns that have that focus and look at the things they do to make their towns a tourist destination.
When I saw the article about MF having a tourism designation I immediately thought about the recent sighting of the alligators. I think that having alligators in our small lake is not desirable to many tourists that wish to be on the lake. Capture and relocate makes sense to me.