August Meeting

5.   Goodbyes to David

 

 

It has been my honor to represent Boerne the last year. I have been blessed with what my 8 year old daughter calls a "Once in a Lifetime Opportunity" to assist with Congressman Tom Tancredo's presidential campaign.

 

As I leave Boerne I encourage everyone in the community to work together to promote the town. Boerne's future is very bright and if all the differing interest groups in town can work together it will be even brighter. For what it's worth, I encourage everyone interested in tourism to develop a vision of what they want Boerne to be. With a common vision and planning, Boerne can become the destination of the Hill Country. The downtown can be active with locals and tourists alike enjoying the neighborhood center for all of Kendall County.

 

In my opinion the area where Boerne has a competitive advantage is in the Arts. Boerne can become the northwest art center for all of the San Antonio metropolitan area and is already moving in this direction. Continuing to develop the art product in Boerne while working to preserve the Historic nature of the area is (again in my opinion) the key for the tourism product in Boerne. The Boerne Area Historical Preservation Society saw growth this year with the Historic Homes Tour and an increased focus on historic preservation in the City. As I have before, I encourage everyone with an interest in historic preservation to get actively involved with this organization.

 

I would like to thank everyone that has been involved with the Tourism Council for all of your help. I would also like to thank all of the volunteers that work at the Visitor Center for all of their help. The Visitor Center could not operate without your assistance.

 

Chamber of Commerce Tourism Council Meeting – August 22, 2007

 

The regular meeting was held at the Best Western.

 

Call to Order 8:00 AM

 

Introductions – 16 present

 

Updates on the Hotel Tax Advisory Board and Request Process  

Hotel Occupancy Tax Advisory Board met with the city attorney on what they could legally do, some of the applicants did not meet the requirements. Official recommendations will be made at City Council on August 28^th. There were many more requests than dollars, so the board discussed which applicants were really responsible for putting heads in beds. Councilman Ziegler added that even after the August 28^th Council meeting that appeals can still be made. David Cooksey added that he thought the board did very well and he was pleased with the recommendations.

There was a suggestion that PR firm be hired to help promote events, and that Bandera  and Fredericksburg already have PR people to help CVB’s promote.

 

Treats on the Town – October 12 for Key to the Hills Rod Run

 During Rod Run this program encourages Rod Run participants to shop along Main Street on Friday night. The participants have a dinner at Main Plaza and are then encourages to go into the shops along Main for shopping and dessert. Any merchant that would like to participate needs to stay open until at least 8 PM and provide dessert for customers coming in on Friday night. The CVB will create a flyer/map listing the shops that are participating in the program and will provide balloons to have in front of the stores.

 

Boerne Bed & Breakfast and Cuisine Tour

The tour is scheduled for Sunday, November 4^th, from 1-5pm. Tickets will be available at the Visitors Center in the latter part of October for $20 per person. Meetings will be held regularly at the CVB until then.

 

Boerne Festival of Art & Music Update (October 19-21)

The Cibolo Arts Council will host a Chamber mixer at Ye Kendall Inn for a preview of the Festival of Art and Music this year.

 

Second Saturday Art Trolley

The First Art Trolley Tour was a big success, and the trolley was able to make about 8 or 9 loops in the time frame.  The tour will be scheduled to start earlier since The Best Western will now be one of the stops on the tour.

 

 

Kendall County Fair Update

Sally Beer with the Women’s Auxiliary of the Fair Association gave a brief summary about the readiness of the 2007 fair. Everything is on schedule and she believed they had enough volunteers.

 

Next Meeting – September 26^th at the Best Western, 8AM

 

Meeting Adjourned