Officials: Rose Season Planning Pays Off

TYLER — Tyler officials say efforts to expand the economic impact of the Rose Season paid off this year with an estimated $2,041,529 spent by attendees at the three-week long event – up from $973,706 in 2009. Hotel-motel occupancy tax revenue during the month of October also rose significantly according to information from the State Comptroller’s Office; revenue grew by more than $20,000 over the same month in 2009.

“Following the Rose Festival in 2009 we formed a committee to look at ways we could capitalize upon the event to attract more visitors to Tyler,” commented City Manager Mark McDaniel. “We already had several longstanding, successful attractions – so it was simply a matter of adding additional activities that appealed to a broad range of visitors and getting the word out across the State. The result was the three-week long Rose Season.”

In addition to the traditional Rose Parade, Queen’s Tea and Coronation, the 2010 Rose Season included Tyler’s first full marathon, the Festival on the Square Texas Music Concert, a self-guided garden tour, horticulture workshops, the Master Gardener Fall Conference and Bulb Sale, an arts and crafts fair and much more. “By expanding the Rose Season into three weekends, we were able to offer a variety of events that were marketable to a cross section of tourists,” added Convention and Visitors’ Bureau Chief Operating Officer Henry Bell. “We focused our marketing efforts on this region as well as the major metro areas such as Dallas.”

Overall, reports from the planners of Rose Season events showed that attendance grew from 57,410 attendees in 2009 to 83,839 in 2010. More than 50 percent of attendees were considered tourists from outside Smith County and overnight stays grew from 1,423 in 2009 to 1,878 in 2010.

Some events that were part of the Rose Season had been held at other times of the year in the past. The Festival on the Square had traditionally been held in September; however, to reach a critical mass, the event was moved to October as part of the Rose Season line up. The concert occurred the night before the Rose Marathon, which allowed for cross marketing of both events, and drew an estimate 2,500 attendees. “The Tyler Rose Marathon was a great addition to the Season’s events,” said McDaniel. “It drew more than 1,800 people and resulted in 302 hotel room nights.” At least 70 percent of the marathon’s participants were from outside Smith County, with six percent coming from other states.

“Planning for the 2011 Rose Season is already underway,” said Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass. “The spirit of cooperation that is growing is positioning tourism as a major economic driver in our community. I have every confidence that we will continue to see growth moving forward.” The year-to-date hotel-motel occupancy tax has grown more than 10 percent as compared to the same period in 2009.