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79.! Final Report March 1997 Visitors to Southwest Texas State University, especially parents. Thousands of people visit San Marcos annually to participate in events at SWT. With the right promotion, these visitors will stay longer and help support local restaurants, lodging facilities, and stores. 2. Special interest groups such as birders and those interested in history. (These groups will emerge as subsets of the mall visitors, but should also be recognized as important market segments that should be approached directly.) Birdwatching has especially good potential. San Marcos is at the juncture of two major ecological zones and is on the path of one of the major migratory flyways. These factors, plus the diversity of habitats in the area, provide important potential for birdwatchers. 3. Travelers on I-35, especially winter Texans. Tens of thousands of people who have purposely chosen to spend their time in Texas pass by San Marcos because the city seems to offer little to accommodate them. Yet these people are attractive visitors. They are affluent and place few demands on community services. 4. Visitors to the Austin-San Antonio and Hill Country region. San Marcos is virtually in the center of one of the most popular visitor destinations in the state. The city does not have to spend large amounts of money to attract people, as is the case with Abilene or Amarillo. San Marcos only has to make itself visible and attractive to the people who have already been attracted to the region. Characteristics of the Tourism Market It was beyond the charge of the Blue Ribbon Committee to conduct market surveys or perform market analyses for specific tourism products. However, data collected from other sources are useful to describe the overall tourism market that is available to San Marcos. From general to specific, those sources are (1) analysis of Texas travel trends by the Tourism Division of the Texas Department of Commerce, (2) tourism interests of readers of Texas Highways Magazine, and (3) characteristics of shoppers at the malls in San Marcos. As described below, these sources confirm that tourism is a substantial economic activity in Texas and San Marcos has current and potential attractions that meet market demands. In addition, San Marcos is strategically located to participate in the tourism business. It is in the center of one of the most important tourism areas in the state, and a large number of visitors are attracted to San Marcos to shop at the malls. Thus, there is a large demand for tourism activities in the region and San Marcos can meet that demand. 1. General Texas Travel Trends The Tourism Division of the Texas Department of Commerce has an extensive research program that analyzes travel trends in Texas. Data from the Tourism Division indicates that more than 300 million person days of travel are spent in Texas annually. The majority of that travel is for vacation and other leisure activities. More than 80% of Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Tourism Development Page 8