Major SA groups aligning to grow international connections
From SABJ:
W. Scott Bailey
Tourism, economic development and airport officials in San Antonio are forging a new alliance aimed at recruiting more international travelers, businesses and flights.
The initiative, led by Visit San Antonio, greater:SATX and San Antonio International Airport, is launching in Europe in what is expected to become a more expansive global outreach effort.
Stakeholders are seeking to recruit more travelers, companies and airlines to the Alamo City.
San Antonio is taking a team approach to landing more international visitors and companies.
Tourism, economic development and airport officials in San Antonio are forging a new alliance aimed at recruiting more international travelers, businesses and flights.
The initiative, led by Visit San Antonio, greater:SATX and San Antonio International Airport, is launching in Europe in what is expected to become a more expansive global outreach effort.
“We started planning this back in September,” Visit San Antonio President and CEO Marc Anderson said. “It happened very organically, but also very strategically.”
Stakeholders planned to kicked off their effort with a nearly weeklong trip to London, where leaders were expected to meet with tour operators, travel agents, media members and potential corporate targets, particularly companies interested in establishing a presence in the U.S.
“We're really looking at it as an economic development trip,” Anderson said. “We're looking at the U.K. as the toehold for us in Europe. We are talking about having a larger coalition and delegation In Europe later this year, with a potential visit to Germany.”
San Antonio’s international air connectivity is currently limited to Mexico destinations. That’s one of the reasons why Jesus Saenz, director of airports for the San Antonio Airport System, jumped at the opportunity to team with Visit San Antonio and greater:SATX.
“That direct nonstop service to and from Europe is really important to our growth,” Anderson said, noting that stakeholders expect to meet with some global airlines and are hopeful those talks will lead to direct nonstop service to and from Europe in the not-too-distant future. “That nonstop service will definitely help drive demand and awareness for San Antonio.”
Anderson said there are currently some 20,000 visitors who travel from Europe to San Antonio annually, generating about $40 million for the local economy. The more immediate goal is to get that impact up to about $60 million annually.
I reported in October that Visit San Antonio was opening a travel promotion office in London for the first time ever. But the alliance with greater:SATX and local airport officials could lead to more widespread economic opportunities that extend to multiple countries and continents and beyond the travel sector.
It all stems from an early meeting between Anderson and greater:SATX President and CEO Jenna Saucedo-Herrera soon after he moved to the Alamo City in April 2021 to take the Visit San Antonio job. Local airport officials’ involvement in this new coalition could give their push greater lift.
“We have one primary goal. That's to bring people to our city. We're very singular in our mission,” he said. “We have some pretty dramatic plans to take San Antonio into not only the United Kingdom, but all over Europe, into Asia and eventually into South America."
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