LCRA's service area has an abundance of natural beauty and historic sites that make tourism a focus for economic development. Tourists can watch bald eagles soar over Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country and explore Texas history in colorful communities on the Colorado River.

Community and Economic Development staff can help identify marketing strategies and develop partnerships — both public and private — to promote tourism.

Partnerships can help your community's tourism efforts in a number of ways:

• Trade shows — Staff attends three to four tourism trade shows annually to showcase the communities in the LCRA service area.
• Community tourism assessments — Staff provides communities with a two-day assessment of tourism assets and offers recommendations on growing a local tourism industry.
• Tourism Readiness & Improvement Program (TRIP) — Staff provides a year-long program to enhance the local tourism industry. Communities can receive certification as a "tourism ready" community.
• Media leads and e-alerts — Staff disseminates roughly 100 e-mails annually to tourism promotion organizations in the LCRA service area. E-mails contain relevant information on tourism-related seminars, grant opportunities, new programs and requests for information from the media.
• Presentations — is available to speak on tourism-related topics at meetings and other functions.
• General tourism assistance — Staff is a resource to communities for assistance with tourism projects.

LCRA encourages regional cooperation in promoting local tourism assets. By merging the resources of several small communities, a region can become a large enough attraction to attract visitors who stay longer and spend more money.

The Colorado River Trail was created to promote tourism within a 600-mile driving trail along the river. Through regional cooperation, this program has helped expand local revenues in the 11 counties involved due to increased visitor spending.

For more information, contact Tourism.