Travel Texas Welcomes New Team Member

Travel Texas welcomes Callie Easley to the team as Domestic Communications Coordinator. Callie is a native Texan who most recently worked as the North American Marketing Executive for Visit Wales, where she had been representing Wales domestically, and developing social media content. 

Callie takes on the role formerly held by Tamara Andrew, who transitioned to Travel Texas Advertising Project Coordinator in February.

On Friday, July 15, Texas Monthly and Travel Texas broke the Guinness World Record for the Longest BBQ Marathon Team in partnership with Fort Worth’s Panther City BBQ. The restaurant’s team of pitmasters clocked a total of 40 hours, 49 minutes and 17 seconds of continuous barbecuing. All food from the event was donated to the local community and frontline workers, including the Fort Worth Police, Fort Worth Fire Department, Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth and other local charities.

Panther City BBQ is among the Texas Monthly Top 10 BBQ Joints in Texas, and has gained a loyal following for their pork belly burnt ends and poppers and outstanding smoked brisket. Click on the link below to see the event highlights!

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The Office of the Governor has launched a new recovery program—the Texas Travel Industry Recovery Grant Program (TTIR), which began accepting applications July 6, 2022.

The TTIR Program was established to provide one-time reimbursement grants of up to $20,000 for the recovery of Texas businesses in the tourism, travel, and hospitality industries that were negatively impacted due to COVID-19. These one-time grants are to reimburse eligible costs to these qualifying businesses.

Due to the size of the industry and the high number of potential applicants, applications will be accepted in phases by industry sector identified by NAICS code.

EDT is hosting a series of webinars for specific industry groups to provide more information and answer questions on the program and application process. To register for the webinars and for eligibility and grant application details, deadlines, FAQs, and a video tutorial, click the link below.

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Texas Comptroller Tourism Infographic

The Texas Comptroller’s office has created a short video illustrating Texas travel trends. The infographic includes Travel Texas traveler data from January 2020 to May 2022, including TSA checkpoint numbers, car rentals, hotel occupancy rates and direct travel spending.

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Travel Texas is located within the Office of the Governor, Economic Development & Tourism division. For additional information including the latest Travel Texas marketing plan, research reports and cooperative advertising, public relations and marketing opportunities available for partnership please visit: www.travel.texas.gov