Dear Austin Tourism Public Improvement District members,

As we move ahead into the second quarter of 2025, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your ongoing participation, patience and support of the Austin Tourism Public Improvement District. These initial months have been pivotal in establishing the foundation for an organization dedicated to enhancing Austin’s tourism and benefiting your properties directly.

Our inaugural Board of Directors meeting convened on January 6, 2025, marking the formal launch of the ATPID Board. You may be asking who is on the board. You can see a full list on this page. Please note, 100% of the voting members on the Austin TPID Board are senior leaders from various hotels across the district. Since our first meeting, the Board has been diligently working to establish our operational framework and strategic direction. I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress, driven by a shared commitment to acting on your behalf with both urgency and strategic foresight.

To summarize some of the key decisions made by the board over the last few meetings:

• At the inaugural meeting of the Austin TPID Board of Directors on January 6, the Board reviewed and approved the ATPID Bylaws and selected board officers: 

    - Jeff Donahoe, General Manager Hyatt Regency Austin, as Board Chair

    - Scott Blalock, General Manager of JW Marriott Austin, as Board Vice Chair

    - Andy Patel, Owner of Aloft Austin NW, as Board Secretary

• On February 7, 2025, the Board held an all-day Board Summit to receive education on the current state of the industry related to destination sales and marketing from the Visit Austin team.

• At the February 26, March 26 and April 23 board meetings, several items were presented and approved, including:

    - Approval of $500,000 loan from Visit Austin to help fund programming for Sales and Marketing programs that will actualize from April 1 - September 30 until TPID revenue is disbursed in mid-August

    - Approval of Austin’s Individual Hotel Incentive Program (see more details below)

    - Approval of recommended budget process and spending thresholds

    - Approval of the recommended TPID budget allocation breakdown for FY25 (August-September 2025) and FY26 (October 2025 - September 2026)

    - Adoption of the 25-30 Strategic Business Plan as guiding framework for TPID sales and marketing activities for planning and execution

    - Approval of the recommended Marketing budget for FY25 (August-September 2025) and FY26 (October 2025 - September 2026)

    - Approval to hire PTG for media and travel trade representation in Mexico

    - Approval to hire Austin TPID Executive Director, as well as two supportive Visit Austin positions: Data & Research Manager and Finance position

    - Approval to sponsor an industry event that showcased Austin to tradeshow executives

    - Approval of the recommended Sales budget for FY25 (August-September 2025) and FY26 (October 2025 - September 2026)

    - Approval of the recommended Research budget for FY25 (August-September 2025) and FY26 (October 2025 - September 2026)

Additionally, the board has approved $900K in incentives to support short-term business opportunities (April–September 2025) and citywide conventions scheduled for 2030 and beyond. These incentives are strategically targeted toward need periods.

Throughout our meetings, we have engaged in robust discussions on various topics crucial to the Austin TPID's success, including structure and best practices, budget oversight, marketing and sales strategies, and administrative needs. We have also reviewed comparative data from other successful TPIDs in Texas to inform our approach.

We recognize the importance of keeping you informed and ensuring you feel this Board is acting strategically and collaboratively. We are committed to building a successful ATPID that delivers tangible benefits to your hotels and contributes to the overall vibrancy of Austin’s tourism economy.

Future updates will be communicated via this email. We encourage you to visit the Austin TPID website for more information as it becomes available. And if you have any questions, whatsoever, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself, Visit Austin, AHLA or THLA for guidance.

For elaboration and links for some of the items above, read on below. Thank you once again for your engagement. We look forward to a productive year ahead.

Sincerely,

Jeff Donahoe
Board Chair
Austin Tourism Public Improvement District

The best resource for information on the Austin Tourism Public Improvement District is austintpid.org. A few fast facts to remember: 

• The Austin Tourism Public Improvement District is a 2% assessment fee (not a tax) on hotel room revenue that is subject to the local hotel occupancy tax for hotels with 100+ rooms within the City of Austin

• Funding will allow for enhanced incentives for room night generating groups at the Austin Convention Center and Palmer Events Center, as well as incentivizing in-house hotel groups.

• Funding will also allow for increased sales, marketing, advertising and research activities.

• Estimated $25-30 million in total collections in first full year 

• Collections began April 1, 2025

• Comprehensive Austin TPID FAQs can be found here.

The program is for district member hotels to provide incentives to clients for self-contained groups or meetings that will attract and/or retain overnight visitors to Austin. View an overview of the program details and eligibility, as well as application and funding process here. 

• Hotel/Property must be an active ATPID member property currently submitting district assessments to the City.

• Events receiving other ATPID funds may not be eligible, nor are existing “definite” business opportunities.

• A minimum of 10 rooms on peak must be utilized.

• A minimum Return on Investment (ROI) of 5 to 1 is required for applied funding; that is for every dollar provided in ATPID funding, five dollars in hotel lodging revenue must be generated.

• Awards are based on program parameters and funding availability for all approved groups actualizing prior to December 31, 2034.

• The incentive will be paid to the client.  Additionally, payments will not be made to a 3rd party client, only end-user organizations. 

• Applications will be reviewed and approved by the program administrator (Executive Director of the Austin TPID or Visit Austin sales leadership).

The Austin TPID Board is currently reviewing policies and processes that will make this program fair and equitable to all district hotels. More details will be shared very soon.

We anticipate being able to roll out this program and begin receiving applications for future events by mid-June. We plan to host three information sessions to discuss the program and answer any questions. Additional details regarding these meetings will be sent directly to the General Manager and Sales Leadership at each TPID hotel.

The application for the Austin Tourism Public Improvement District (ATPID) Executive Director was posted last month and has since closed. Interviews have been conducted and the Austin TPID Board hopes to finalize the position by June.

At this time, the best resource for information on the Austin Tourism Public Improvement District is austintpid.org. From there you can view the Austin TPID Service Plan, basic FAQs and contact information should you have questions and need additional clarification. This site is actively being updated so continue to check back as more information is added.

The board plans to distribute this newsletter to the district with updates and results quarterly; however, there will be times where updates and announcements come in between sends. Please ensure this communication ends up in your inbox. We ask that you only forward it on to other Austin TPID district members. Should someone need to be added to this distribution, email us at atpid@visitaustin.org.