Jeanne Sheehan had some good numbers for Austin City Council members the other day.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Jeanne Sheehan had some good numbers for Austin City Council members the other day. Bottom line: Tourism created a $7.5 million impact in the city of Austin.

Sheehan, director of the Austin Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, told council members how three times as many groups as in 1998 visited Austin last year. The groups are attracted here not only because of our SPAMTOWN USA moniker, but also there are a lot of things here for those on motorcoach tours to visit. The Paramount Theatre and other attractions are desirable stops. Unexpected stops that have proven popular include the city’s library, where visitors can walk to the back of the building and take in a lot of sites – including Hormel Foods Corp. – while looking across the lake.

Chuck Keller has been instrumental in attracting the tour groups from her visitors bureau office. She’s been nurturing the tour group business to the point that our city hosted an average of more than one a week in 1999. Austin surely will host even more groups this year.

With the increase in tourism, there was a 9 percent increase in lodging taxes received by the city last year. That’s good news for our visitors bureau because 95 percent of those funds go directly to that office.

Austin will be unleashing a new marketing tool soon, too. A video will be loaned out to service clubs and other groups interested in designating Austin as a regional meeting location. It surely will bring even more visitors to our city.

Tens of thousands of visitors stop in Austin every year. Hopefully, they’ll have a good time and stop again or bring friends with them the next time.

We don’t have the Mall of America, but we have the SPAM Museum. We don’t have the Minnesota Zoo, but we’ve got the Hormel Home. With the right marketing tools, Austin will become more of a stopover point for tourists. And when tourists come to Austin, everyone wins. From the hotels to the restaurants to stores to the attractions. It’s a win-win situation.