Saffire Blog

Welcome Belton Convention and Visitors Bureau

We had the great privilege of designing the Bell County Exposition Center Website a few years ago and are so excited to welcome another client from Belton to the Saffire Family! We are also thrilled to welcome another destination client to the growing Saffire portfolio! The Belton Convention and Visitors Bureau is tasked with showcasing … Continue reading “Welcome Belton Convention and Visitors Bureau”

We had the great privilege of designing the Bell County Exposition Center Website a few years ago and are so excited to welcome another client from Belton to the Saffire Family!

We are also thrilled to welcome another destination client to the growing Saffire portfolio!

The Belton Convention and Visitors Bureau is tasked with showcasing Belton, Texas as a destination. Located deep in the heart of Texas, Belton is a unique city with friendly people and a rich history. Founded in 1850, Belton is located along the famous Chisholm Trail. Belton’s location also puts it squarely in the middle of natural wonders, shopping and entertainment. From beautiful lakes and interesting museums, to historic landmarks and shopping, Belton has an endless supply of places to experience.

TTIA 2015 – Unity Dinner and Matket Place

This week, the Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA) hosted the annual Unity Dinner, a night where tourism professionals and their supporters unite to express the impact the travel industry has on individual communities and the U.S. as a whole. The event continues to become more and more popular, averaging around 1,000 in attendance this year! This year’s featured speaker was the one and only, Tilman Fertitta, sole owner, chairman and CEO of Fertitta Entertainment, Inc. Fertitta is a native of Texas and has made a remarkable impact on the tourism industry through his 500 properties (including the San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center, Galveston’s Pleasure Pier, the Kemah Boardwalk and ALL of the Landry’s Restaurants).

This dinner has grown to become a 3 day event, starting with a speed-dating style tradeshow and concluding with a day-long event known as “Converge on the Capitol” where travel and tourism professionals come together to address tourism-related issues to local Senators and Representatives at the Texas State Capitol.

As ALWAYS, we loved seeing and bonding with many of our Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) friends over the three days and we look forward to our next tourism adventure!

SFEA 2015 in Chattanooga

Every year at Saffire, we are privileged to travel to new and exciting conferences and meet more amazing people than the year before. This year, Cassie and Elaine had the pleasure of going to the Southeast Festival and Events Association in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There, we were almost snowed in, met scores of fun people from … Continue reading “SFEA 2015 in Chattanooga”

Since it was unusually cold outside, everyone at the conference stayed inside most of the time! One exception was to go to the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga, which had been closed off and privately catered for the conference attendees. It was such a good time, especially thanks to the face painting artist and delicious food.

At the end of the conference, we had some time before their flight and were personally shown around by Dave Jones, the East Tennessee Regional Manager from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Needless to say, we had an expert to show us all the beautiful attractions in Chattanooga and we went to a fabulous local burger joint called Urban Stack. A huge thank you to Dave for helping us kill the time before their flight and for representing Tennessee so well! His enthusiasm was a pleasure to experience!

We want to thank everyone at the conference for being so welcoming and warm! Who doesn’t love Southern charm and hospitality?! We also can’t wait to get back to SFEA in 2016 in Charleston, SC….hopefully without the snow and ice! (Maybe next year we’ll get to ride on the Segway again??)