Kilgore chamber works hard for local tourism
By KATHRYN MARTINEZ news1@kilgorenewsherald.com

After Kilgore made the pages of Texas Highways, some may wonder how Kilgore became fortunate to receive recognition that could drive the city's attractions home for so many.

Mike Coston, Kilgore Chamber of Commerce president, attended the Texas Travel Industry Association Travel Fair in Beaumont where he was the featured speaker. The travel fair was sponsored by Texas Department of Transportation Travel Information Division.

According to Coston, travel counselors who attended the event represent travel centers, AAA offices, visitor centers and Texas Highways magazine.

It was there that Coston had his first interaction with Kathy Murphy, Texas Highways publisher.

According to Murphy, Kilgore has not received much notoriety lately and the June issue was a long time in the making.

"Kilgore is a great town and had been fortunate in a lot of ways over the years," Murphy said. "Texas Highways has not done anything on Kilgore in a while and it was due time."

Hence the nine-page spread in the magazine that quickly sold out of news racks all over Kilgore.

The magazine has a circulation of 215,000. Murphy said as much as 15 percent of subscriptions are outside of Texas.

"Kilgore Chamber of Commerce spends countless hours and money promoting Kilgore, its attractions, culture and heritage at tourism events throughout the year, to tourists and travelers - and at business conferences," Carol Hinton director of chamber tourism, said. "Tourism is recognized as a powerful economic development tool in Texas, producing revenue and jobs."

According to Hinton, in 2006 Texas travelers spent an estimated $54 billion in Texas and approximately 521,000 Texans were employed by the travel industry.

Kilgore Chamber of Commerce attends two annual travel shows. One in Ft. Worth and the other in Houston. Hinton said Chamber staff and Chamber ambassadors spent three days at each show promoting Kilgore to thousands of people. Mike Coston, chamber president, said Kilgore chamber passed out approximately 10,000 brochures at each event.

In addition to handing out brochures, Coston said brochures are strategically placed at all 14 Texas travel centers, as well as some restaurants and hotels; and, yet another 30,000 brochures are distributed nationwide by Texas Approach, a traveling tourism show promoting East Texas.

The chamber attraction brochure was recently updated with new photos of Kilgore and information about the East Texas Pump Jacks.

In March Kilgore Chamber of Commerce hosted a two-day visit of an Airstream travel club. Guests were given a tour of Kilgore's downtown then visited East Texas Oil Museum, Rangerette Showcase Museum and World's Richest Acre. The travel club also saw Rangerette Revel rehearsals, toured Kilgore Public Library and the Shakespeare Garden then heard a program on Texas Shakespeare Festival and festival costumes, by Raymond Caldwell.

"Their tour was like a fact finding tour as they traveled to Mineola to join 80 other groups from all over the United States and share experiences," Coston said. "These groups come together often and are always looking for places to go, so if they had a great experience in Kilgore they will share that experience with others and hopefully inspire those other clubs to visit Kilgore."