Dear TPID Participants,

Visit San Antonio leadership, along with the Visit San Antonio and TPID Boards, recently held its annual retreat where everyone reconnected and reflected on the exciting road ahead. It was a valuable opportunity to strengthen momentum as we continue forward through these summer months. In that momentum, we officially announced our new TPID Board Members! Please join me in extending a warm welcome to these industry leaders who bring exceptional expertise and passion to our board:

• Ryan Fender – General Manager, Grand Hyatt 
• Matthew Hosak – General Manager, Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Landmark 
• Chaitan Mugili – General Manager, The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio 
• Chryssaldo Thomas – General Manager, Hyatt Regency 
• Rusty Wallace – Area Managing Director, Omni La Mansión del Rio & Mokara Hotel & Spa

We are fortunate to have their leadership and insights as we continue working together to elevate San Antonio’s tourism and hospitality landscape.  
I’m also happy to share that the Expedia summer campaign is showing encouraging results since its launch in May: 

• As of July 6, the campaign has driven nearly 140,000 clicks to the Expedia landing page - 125,000 of which came from our social media ads, delivering a 0.84% click-through rate. 
• We’ve seen 20,000 more room nights booked through Expedia compared to the same period last year, especially strong in May. 
• San Antonio’s market share of booking revenue (among our competitive set: Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Fort Worth) has grown from 17.4% to 18.2%. 

This campaign will continue to run through August, and we look forward to seeing continued growth throughout the summer.  
As you are all aware, our neighbors in the Hill Country region have recently experienced devastating flooding. In true hospitality spirit, Visit San Antonio rallied tourism and hospitality partners to aid in relief efforts. I’m inspired by how our community has come together to offer support for this initiative.  
Thank you to all the hotels and teams that stepped up, whether by offering resources, participating in fundraising efforts, providing discounted rates, or offering emergency accommodations for first responders and displaced families.

A special thank you to Michelle Moon at Visit San Antonio for leading the coordination effort, which is a powerful reminder of how we extend care beyond our walls and into the community. Learn more about the initiative here: https://www.visitsanantonio.com/hill-country-support/

Finally, please join me in congratulating Mario on his new role. His leadership and deep-rooted knowledge of our city and industry are true assets, and I’m genuinely looking forward to what we’ll accomplish together in this next chapter. 

Before I close, just a friendly reminder: don’t forget to take advantage of the TPID Incentive Fund. It is a great tool to help attract and support group business at your property, which is a win-win!  

Warm regards,

Maria Marinez

TPID Chair

HOTEL INCENTIVE PROGRAM

SATPID’s Individual Hotel Incentive Program is in effect and going strong!

With funding still available, please continue to submit applications for up to $75K per participating SATPID property.

LEARN MORE

Destination Sales

The sales team had a busy third quarter, kicking it off with a bang by hosting a high impact customer FAM trip during the NCAA Final Four! In fact, the team is actively working on closing a large citywide lead for over 17,000 room nights from a customer who attended.

In May, we had representation at ConferenceDirect’s D25 Conference that focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Minneapolis, fostering an ongoing relationship with this important intermediary.

June was packed, with the team hosting Cvent CONNECT for the second year in a row with over 3,600 in-person attendees and a customer FAM trip for high-level corporate event marketers. Excitingly, the sales team recently confirmed a confidential corporate citywide worth $8.6M in economic impact and 14,900 total room nights that selected our destination due to their positive experience at Cvent CONNECT 2024. Sometimes that ROI isn’t immediate, but it’s fantastic to see the impact hosting Cvent CONNECT continues to make on our destination.

To finish off the quarter, some of the team attended Meeting Professional’s International WEC in St. Louis to promote San Antonio for next June – Another great industry event that will continue to elevate our destination!

Marketing

The third quarter was defined by impactful marketing initiatives that promoted San Antonio as a must-visit summer destination. Our team focused on elevating the city’s appeal through strategic campaigns, enhanced visitor experiences, and the amplification of local cultural assets during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.

Key Highlights for the Quarter:

• Summer Campaign – “The Many Summer Vibes of San Antonio” 

• This season’s flagship campaign targeted both families and adult travelers, showcasing San Antonio as the ideal location to cool down and experience summer fun. A dedicated landing page highlighted top events and curated suggestions for how to enjoy summer in the city. 

• 4th of July Regional Campaign 

• This initiative invited regional audiences to experience Independence Day celebrations with a distinct San Antonio flair, spotlighting cultural events and citywide festivities that reflect our unique heritage and vibrancy. 

• River Walk Marketing Initiatives 

• Marketing efforts along the iconic River Walk supported several major events, including San Antonio Restaurant Week: River Walk Edition, the Pride River Parades & Celebrations, and the distribution of the summer edition of RIO Magazine, The Many Colors of the River Walk. 

• Additional Summer Marketing Tactics 

• The quarter also included activations such as the Virtual Field Trip campaign, regional summer promotions in Austin, Dallas and Rio Grande Valley, and continued promotion of San Antonio as the “Theme Park Capital of Texas.” 

• Launch of the 2025–2026 Visitor’s Guide 

• The updated Visitor’s Guide was released with new editorial content, including a spotlight on San Antonio’s rich arts and culture offerings - further positioning the city as a destination for immersive and authentic experiences.

City of San Antonio Arts & Culture QA Update:

Effectively Meet City Contract Requirements

• Work effectively with City’s Department of Arts & Culture (DAC) to better showcase San Antonio’s arts/cultural assets in marketing paid and non-paid efforts throughout the year

Marketing and Media Relations Partnership & Ongoing Collaboration

• The Visit San Antonio Marketing and Communications teams meet with COSA Arts and Culture Department quarterly to share ideas and information on upcoming projects that can be highlighted on the Visit San Antonio website and social media channels. 

• VSA is partnering with COSA DAC to amplify key monthly events and showcase San Antonio artists work whenever possible. 

• Visit San Antonio Marketing team participation of in curated tours and attend key events that help attract visitation. 

• Joint effort of executing Centro/COSA/VSA city events on Houston Street. 

• Visit San Antonio Media Relations collaborate and consult with DAC for media pitches and media messaging throughout the year. 

Support for Key Q3 City Efforts through Social Media and Blogging. A few examples include:

• Celebrate Juneteenth and Civic Season in San Antonio

• San Antono in the Summer: Things to do every month

• Your Ultimate Guide to 100 Free Things to do in San Antonio

• Your Guide to Experiencing Walkable San Antonio

• Guide to Visiting San Antonio Missions National Historic Park

• Explore the Hemisfair in San Antonio, Texas

• New Adventures to explore at The Alamo and Alamo Plaza

Ongoing Paid and Organic Media Support: Q3 FY25 included ongoing support for arts and culture through annual paid and organic media efforts.

• Website Cultural Content: YTD (Q1, Q2 and Q3) FY25 Total Visits to Cultural content was 471,976 

• YTD (Q1, Q2 & Q3 ) Visit San Antonio SM Channels:   

• Organic Total Impressions: 4,082,183 

• Total engagements: 241,137 

• Total Video Views: 2,564,217 

• YTD (Q1, Q2 & Q3) The San Antonio River Walk SM Channels:   

• Organic Total Impressions: 3,049,130 

• Total engagements: 160,869 

• Total Video Views: 950,567 

ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE

FY2024 Service Plan Assessments

District Assessments are collected by properties and remitted to the City of San Antonio utilizing the same reporting process as Hotel Occupancy Tax. For FY2024, assessments were budgeted at $10.9 million but closed the year at $10.6 million. The decreased assessments will be covered by savings across the same service plan categories originally adopted with more than 90% dedicated to sales and marketing programs.

FY2025 Service Plan

In December 2024, the San Antonio City Council approved the FY2025 Service Plan, which was previously approved by the Tourism Public Improvement District Board. The 2025 Service Plan projects an estimated $11 million in estimated revenue assessments for the District in FY2025 and outlines a corresponding service plan for sales & marketing efforts to align with that projection for FY2025. Visit San Antonio will work with the SATPID board to execute various strategies to best leverage these resources to help drive additional demand for the destination and properties within the District. The below referenced Service Plan outlines the major budget parameters of the sales and marketing programming expected in FY2025.

SATPID FY2025 – Service Plan/Budget (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

Industry Data

Below is YTD industry data received from Smith Travel Research (STR) specific to June 2025 vs June 2024, as well as calendar year to date information (Jan-June 2025 vs Jan-June 2024) for primary comp cities. VSA and SATPIDC will continue to monitor industry performance as we progress through the summer and fall months of calendar year 2025.