‘Hometown Heroes’ play important role in city’s visitor economy
The economic impact of tourism in OKC cannot be overstated. That is why Visit Oklahoma City, formerly the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, values community members who take an active role in helping ensure OKC’s visitor economy is thriving and expanding, and why Visit Oklahoma City annually recognizes certain individuals as “Hometown Heroes” for elevating Oklahoma City as a premier visitor destination.
According to the Visit Oklahoma City website VisitOKC.com, Oklahoma City welcomes 21.4 million visitors annually. Those same out-of-town guests spend about $2.3 billion during their stays here for things like food and beverage, retail, recreation and entertainment, lodging and transportation, which also generate about $311 million in tax revenue for the city and state combined.
Visit Oklahoma City President Zac Craig said the Hometown Heroes program has existed for many years, long before he arrived in early 2021. Visit OKC searches for individuals who are doing something very unique in their space, working over and above to recruit events to OKC, and strategically thinking about OKC’s visitation economy.
Visit OKC also hosts an annual event where they publicly recognize those Hometown Heroes, he said. The 2021 recipients were honored with a reception at Oklahoma Contemporary; this year, however, will be different.
“I can’t go into too much detail right now, but we are trying to elevate the 2023 event somewhat,” he said. “We are looking at different options for an emcee and involving different sides of the community to ensure everybody knows, from a quality-of-life and economic impact standpoint, just how important tourism is to Oklahoma City.”
David Jackson is a 2021 Hometown Heroes honoree. As executive director for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, he knows firsthand about why attracting more visitors to OKC is important to the community and the businesses that operate here.
“Our Board of Directors and our staff take tremendous pride in providing activities for our secondary school students that helps them to not only enjoy their school experience but also learn valuable life lessons to take with them when they leave high school. We are very thankful for [Visit Oklahoma City] for recognizing us and for the support they give to high school activities throughout the city,” Jackson said.
The time and effort that Jackson and other Hometown Heroes, both past and present, have put in touting OKC have paid dividends for the community, especially as more quality meeting spaces and attractions have been added recently, such as the OKC Convention Center, Scissortail Park and the First Americans Museum.
Last year alone, the convention center hosted 149 events, drawing close to 200,000 visitors to OKC. And even more visitors are expected over the next couple of years as other attractions across the city are completed.
A Hometown Hero is any person or organization that has gone above and beyond to help advance and promote Oklahoma City as a premier visitor destination. They do not necessarily have to lead or manage an organization that is directly involved in OKC’s hospitality or tourism industry, but may be someone who want others around their personal and professional circles to see what a great place Oklahoma City is to visit. Advocacy can come through a variety of ways, such as personal connections with professional and hobby-related organizations that may be looking for a place to hold their next regional or national meeting, church-affiliated or sports-related groups, social media circles and others.
The Visit OKC team is ready to help anyone who would like to approach their respective group or organization about meeting in Oklahoma City sometime in the future. They can visit the Visit OKC website for more information about what makes OKC such a great place to visit, or just contact Visit OKC directly where they will be connected to a representative from the convention sales and services team or sports business team.
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