Ready to add new items to your Texas Travel Bucket List? The TxDOT Texas Travel Information Centers are a free, one-stop resource always brimming with information that opens up your Texas travel opportunities.
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Travel by the Numbers
Traveling Texas is all fun and games, but there’s a solid benefit to it all, as well.
In 2014, tourism brought in an estimated $70.5 billion to the Texas economy. For the fifth year in a row, those figures continue to improve.
Travel spending in Texas directly supported 630,000 jobs, and an additional 474,000 jobs indirectly across many industry sectors including leisure and hospitality, transportation, retail trade and services.
About 243 million domestic visitors (Texan and non-Texan) traveled to Texas destinations. Of those, about 70 percent traveled for leisure and 30 percent traveled for business.
International travelers continue to visit is bigger numbers, too, with the highest percentage coming from Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Japan and China.
In 2013, international visitors spent $6.6 billion across the state and directly supported 59,000 jobs.
Texas hotels collected an estimated $9.7 billion in revenues in 2014, and an estimated 97.9 million roomnights were sold across the state.
On Friday, May 8, many of the Texas Travel Information Centers will be celebrating Travel Rally Day as part of National Travel and Tourism Week, May 2-10.
Travel and Tourism Week is a chance to not only celebrate the wonders of travel, but to take a step back and recognize the profound economic benefits and impact that travel has for communities, states and the nation.
Travel Information Center Events
The Texas Travel Information Center in Amarillo is hosting a Tourism Day Expo where the Amarillo Convention and Visitors Council is setting up a Travel Fair with fun activities, exhibitors from area attractions, entertainment and refreshments.
The Texas Travel Information Centers in Anthony (near El Paso) and Anthony (El Paso area) also are having similar Texas Tourism Rallies.
Hawaiian Falls Waterpark will be a guest a the Texas Travel Information Center in Austin.
Gainesville Travel Information Center Supervisor Cindy Walker says visitors are encouraged to stop by and visit with tourism partners, pick up travel information and enjoy numerous activities, including live music and refreshments.
If you’re in the Denison area or traveling through, be sure to stop at the Texas Travel Information Center there for fun activities and travel tips from local and regional tourism representatives.
