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Tourism Friendly Texas

The Tourism Friendly Texas Certified Community program is a new designation created to encourage communities across Texas to pursue tourism as an economic  development strategy and provide resources to support those efforts. The program is open to local governments or non-profit organizations that serve as the lead for tourism promotion and development efforts in the community (e.g., Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Chamber of Commerce). These organizations are often responsible for administering local hotel occupancy tax. Only ONE entity may apply for a Tourism Friendly Texas Certified Community designation for a given area.

Program Goals 

  • Strengthen relationships with existing community partners.
  • Educate local leaders on the importance of tourism as a tool for economic development and job creation.
  • Encourage participation in state government programs available for tourism development.
  • Assist small or rural communities with limited tourism resources.

Applications for calendar year 2024 are now closed. Interested communities are encouraged to contact us to start the certification process in January 2025: 

  1. Send a Letter of Intent. This is required before proceeding to steps two and three.This letter will typically come from the head of the organization, or someone designated to represent the organization for the purpose of achieving certification. The letter must identify the staff member who will serve as the primary liaison with Travel Texas while completing the certification process. Please plan on an introductory meeting with Travel Texas staff before proceeding to steps two and three.
  2. Submit the Tourism Friendly Texas Certified Community questionnaire. Posted as reference here for communities to consider before entering the program. After receiving and approving the Letter of Intent, Travel Texas will send a version of the questionnaire to be completed.
  3. View the Tourism Friendly Texas Certified Community online training. Communities must view required online training from Travel Texas and complete at least one elective module. You are welcome to view more than one elective module to learn more about the programs, or share with other members of your organization, but only one is required for certification. Active participation in featured programs may count towards this elective requirement.

Questions?

Contact us!