Visit Austin Won Marketing Momentum Award in 2026
The travel group earned recognition for a campaign that helped sustain Austin tourism during a major convention center closure.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Hotels
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Visit Austin received the Marketing Momentum Award at the 2026 ESTO conference following a successful summer campaign. The effort aimed to boost tourism while the city's convention center underwent a multi-year construction project.
Why it matters
The campaign was designed to offset significant revenue losses resulting from the closure of the Austin Convention Center in April 2025. It focused on attracting high-earning travelers to maintain hotel demand during a period of infrastructure development.
The campaign generated 28,300 hotel bookings and $9.36 million in direct revenue, achieving a 374:1 return on investment. These results were driven by targeted outreach to travelers earning over $150,000 in New York City, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
The players
Visit Austin
This is the official destination marketing organization responsible for promoting tourism in the capital of Texas.
Austin Convention Center
This large-scale facility serves as a primary hub for events in the city and has been closed for a major renovation project since 2025.
The details
To mitigate the impact of the $1.6 billion convention center reconstruction, Visit Austin utilized custom video content and social media instead of print media. This strategy successfully captured 254.7 million impressions during the May through September 2025 period despite the facility's ongoing closure.
Timeline
April 2025: The Austin Convention Center closed for reconstruction.
May through September 2025: The campaign window for summer leisure travel occurred.
2026: Visit Austin received the Marketing Momentum Award.
2029: The convention center reconstruction is expected to be completed.
Travel Outlook
The city's tourism strategy follows a pattern set by the 2025-2029 Austin Convention Center reconstruction, aiming to maintain economic activity while major venue infrastructure remains unavailable. This highlights a shift toward leisure travel to balance out temporary declines in large-scale event hosting.
Travelers should note that the convention center remains closed until 2029, which may impact hotel availability and pricing patterns for large group events in the downtown area. Booking leisure trips during off-peak times can help ensure better access to local amenities while the city adjusts to the ongoing construction.
The takeaway
Targeted social media campaigns can effectively sustain local tourism numbers even when major anchor attractions are unavailable. By focusing marketing on high-income demographics in specific urban markets, cities can successfully drive hotel bookings despite large-scale infrastructure projects.
What happens next
The Austin Convention Center construction project is scheduled to conclude in 2029, which will likely trigger a new phase of marketing campaigns to relaunch large-scale convention hosting in the city.
Further reading
Learn more about the local market in Austin Hotels.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Informaconnect.
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