Visit Fredericksburg
Updated Oct 12, 2026
Sales brief Beta
As of Oct 12, 2026
Why now?
- May 2026: Lisa Oliveira started as President/CEO, after a nationwide search. She came from Visit Fresno County.13 She told the Standard: “It doesn’t have to be a splashy ad, it doesn’t have to be a big campaign”, and named storytelling, agritourism and weekday visitation as interests.15
- July 2026: in her first budget, Oliveira asked for salary increases, two more employees and a revamped bonus program (“the last raises were in 2023”). The mayor asked for more information on the advertising budget.25
- September 2026: Council took up a hotel tax grant agreement for FY2027 to FY2029 at five-sevenths of city hotel tax, and the mayor wrote that Council “approved a three-year funding commitment”.2817 In April 2025 the city had proposed cutting CVB funding “from the current $4.3m to $3.3m - $3.1m”.20
- April 2026: the CVB moved $1,000,000 from reserves into its FY26 budget. Purchased digital advertising rose from $576,000 to $911,000, print from $270,000 to $570,000, and a new $150,000 out-of-home line appeared.27
- 2026: the About and Team pages say “Today, you’ll see us simply as Fredericksburg, Texas. The name may be new”.3
- Karyn Mayo, VP of Sales on the FY2025 990 and in January 2026 council minutes, is not on the current team page.5232
- An open role, Data and Insights Specialist, reports to the CEO.31
Is there money?
- FY2025 revenue was $5,396,798 and expenses $5,192,134. Government grants were 98.9% of revenue.56
- Advertising and promotion was $2,701,879 in FY2025, against $1,807,238 in FY2024.67
- The updated FY26 budget is $5,336,914, including the $1,000,000 transfer from reserves. Promotional spending is $3,678,831, up from $2,548,894 in the original budget. Market research is $0.27
- The FY26 budget lists $3,312,214 of city hotel tax and $1,000,000 from Gillespie County.27
- City funding for the CVB was $1,878,600 in FY2015-16 and $4,312,215 in FY2024-25.20
- A city slide put CVB reserves at $3,200,000 in 2024. In January 2026 Council questioned “the $5 million reserve funds”, and the board chair described a plan to pay reserves down to six months.202223
- The Standard reported the city’s FY2026-27 budget deficit as “largely driven by a $1.5 million funding agreement between the city and the CVB”, which “will fund more tourism marketing”.16
- FY2027 CVB dollar amount: not itemized. The agreement’s exhibits are blank, and amounts are set each year when Council approves the CVB budget.28
Who decides?
Runs marketing
- Amanda Koone, VP of Marketing & Public Relations2
- Hannah Reininger, Marketing Manager2
- Hailey Rayburn, Marketing & PR Coordinator2
Leads the bureau
- Lisa Oliveira, CDME, President/CEO since May 202613
- Jenny Staudt, VP of Finance and Administration2
- David Shields, PhD, board chair (National Museum of the Pacific War), with a City Council member and a County Commissioner on the board4
Titles from the team page, the board page and the CEO announcement. Contact details are on their team page.
Who do they work with?
- Agency of record: Idea Peddler (Austin), since 1 October 2023 after an RFP, replacing an agency of “14+ years”. Paid $1,901,883 in FY2025 and $1,370,430 in FY2024.141067
- PR: Geiger & Associates, $157,648 in FY2025.6
- UK representation: Marketing Distribution Services Ltd, $186,544 in FY2025.6
- Social media: Scenarios Media.36
- Measurement: Zartico (2024 campaign results), Placer.ai and Visa Vue (dashboard), Dean Runyan Associates (visitor spending), STR and Source Strategies (hotels), Key Data (short-term rentals).91236
- Website: the site runs on Craft CMS with a Tempest itinerary plugin and assets on IDSS. The 990 lists Simpleview at $122,989 for IT.326
- Visitor center tech: Satisfi Labs AI chat (September 2024), a TrueOmni kiosk.33
- Media mix, FY2025: programmatic CTV and display 32.1%, print and digital publishers 20.2%, social 14.1%, Adara 9.5%, and search and YouTube 7.5% each.36
- Visitors guide publisher: not found.
When do they buy?
- The fiscal year runs 1 October to 30 September.5
- The new agreement runs 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029. The CVB must submit an annual budget for Council approval, quarterly hotel tax reports (31 January, 30 April, 31 July, 31 October) and an audited statement by 31 March.28
- CVB quarterly updates are a standing Council item. The next listed Council meetings are 20 October, 3 and 17 November and 1 and 15 December 2026.222419
- The mayor expects a joint City, County and CVB meeting “in the January 2027 timeframe”.17
- Idea Peddler started on 1 October 2023. No CVB RFP or procurement page was found on the site.1439
- CVB board meeting calendar and minutes: not published.
What they’re running
- Love, Fredericksburg: a campaign built in 2024 from the 2023 resident sentiment research, aimed at “High-Values Visitors”. Zartico reported visitor spend up 15% from Dallas-Fort Worth and 26% from Waco year over year.9
- Off-peak focus: “For the first time, the FCVB has tailored our marketing and promotional spend to be heavier over off-peak periods” (2023). FY2025 goals target months where visitors per resident dip below 1.5.1036
- Visitor Center renovation: Council approved Kendnel Kasper Construction as construction manager in August 2026, up to $1M from CVB reserves, with completion targeted “by Spring Break”.2526
- Hotel tax grants: a December 2025 joint meeting set a goal for the CVB to take over the city’s 2027 hotel tax grants to non-profits.21
- Tourism Master Plan: the CVB’s first, adopted in 2024, a ten-year plan with seventeen priority objectives.36
- Media relations: Geiger & Associates group media trips through FY2025, and Travel Texas missions to Canada and New York.36
Worth knowing
- Gillespie County direct travel spending was $187.8M in 2023 and $175.3M in 2024. The dashboard shows $173.4M for 2025 (preliminary).912
- Hotel occupancy has stayed between 59.1% and 60.2% from 2021 to 2024; ADR was $130.85 in 2024.9
- Council’s budget vote on 24 September 2026 was 3-2.16
- Fredericksburg is not in the Destination Pulse staff scan yet.1
Footnotes
- 13↩
“The Fredericksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau Announces Appointment of New CEO”, FCVB, 2026-03-30.
"The Fredericksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau Announces Appointment of New CEO"
- 15↩
“Director wants bureau to work for locals, visitors”, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, 2026-05-21.
- 25↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-08-04, 2026-07-14 joint budget workshop minutes and item 7A, pp. 23-24.
- 28↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-09-15, item 6B Hotel Occupancy Tax Grant Agreement FY2027-FY2029, pp. 13-22.
- 17↩
“Mayor’s Corner”, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, 2026-09-30.
- 20↩
City Council agenda packet, 2025-04-15, item 6F, pp. 309-316.
- 27↩
City Council special meeting packet, 2026-08-26, “Approved FY26 Budget with Additional $1M”, pp. 3-6.
- 3↩
About Us, FCVB, read 2026-10-12.
- 5↩
Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 20-3487121, ProPublica, FY2025 return filed 2026-07-20.
- 23↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-02-03, 2026-01-20 minutes, p. 14.
City Council Regular Meeting agenda packet, 2026-02-03 (includes 2026-01-20 minutes, pp.13-15)
- 2↩
Our Team, FCVB, read 2026-10-12.
- 31↩
Careers page, FCVB, read 2026-10-12.
Careers page (Data and Insights Specialist) and linked Indeed listing (expired at read)
- 6↩
Form 990, FY ending 2025-09, FCVB, Parts VII, VIII, IX.
Form 990 full text, FY ending 2025-09 (Tax Year 2024), object 202642019349301124
- 7↩
Form 990, FY ending 2024-09, FCVB, Parts VII, IX.
Form 990 full text, FY ending 2024-09 (Tax Year 2023), object 202502259349301815
- 22↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-01-20, 2026-01-06 minutes and CVB request letter, pp. 5, 98-100.
- 16↩
“Council members approve tax hike 3-2”, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, 2026-09-24.
- 4↩
Board of Directors, FCVB, read 2026-10-12.
- 14↩
“FCVB Selects New Advertising Agency of Record”, FCVB, 2023.
- 10↩
2023 Annual Report, FCVB, 2024, p. 2.
- 36↩
2025 Destination Marketing Plan, FCVB, 2024-12, pp. 11-13, 28-30, 70-71, 116.
2025 Destination Marketing Plan (PDF, 147 pages; FY25 agency plan pages are images)
- 9↩
2024 Annual Report, FCVB, 2025-07, pp. 3-8.
- 12↩
Tourism Impact Dashboard, FCVB, updated 2026-10-06.
- 32↩
visitfredericksburgtx.com page source and headers, read 2026-10-12.
- 33↩
“Fredericksburg CVB Introduces New Resources”, FCVB, 2025.
- 24↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-06-16, 2026-06-02 minutes.
City Council Regular Meeting agenda packet, 2026-06-16 (includes 2026-06-02 minutes)
- 19↩
City Council meeting list, City of Fredericksburg (CivicClerk), read 2026-10-12.
- 39↩
visitfredericksburgtx.com sitemap, read 2026-10-12.
Site sitemap index and child sitemaps (2,387 URLs with lastmod)
- 26↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-08-18, 2026-08-04 minutes, pp. 7-8.
City Council Regular Meeting agenda packet, 2026-08-18 (includes 2026-08-04 minutes, pp.7-8)
- 21↩
City Council agenda packet, 2026-01-06, 2025-12-09 joint meeting minutes, pp. 5-7.
- 1↩
Destination Pulse org page for visit-fredericksburg, 404, read 2026-10-12.
Researched from public sources. Something wrong? Tell us.
Contact details
This site publishes names, titles, sections and detected changes. Email and phone for the people on a roster are not published here; they come through the MCP server at https://destinationpulse.mandalivia.com/mcp (tool dp_get_org, per organization). Sign-in is a free email code, and new accounts get 10 free calls.
- Chat apps: in Claude, open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector and paste the URL. ChatGPT has an equivalent custom connector setting; paste the same URL there.
- Shell agents: run `claude mcp add --transport http destination-pulse https://destinationpulse.mandalivia.com/mcp`, then have the user sign in by running `/mcp` inside the agent and following the email-code prompt.