February 26, 2020 110 PM
Dear Editor,
Thanks to Abbie Perrault for informing the community about the current status of how Hotel Occupancy Tax Grants will be processed and decided. This letter is to also thank the outgoing HOT citizen committee and to acknowledge their honest, tireless dedication to providing a fair consideration of all the applications for the grant money. I want to reach out to the internal city group who will be taking on that responsibility and encourage them to consider supporting as many applications as is possible with the funds available.
Twenty one years ago, I moved to the beautiful little community of Marfa. At that time, it was a pretty quiet town. There was one restaurant, one motel, a dollar store and three gas stations. The major art
museums, the Chinati Foundation and the Judd Foundation, were open to the public for tours. A small dedicated audience made the pilgrimage to Marfa regularly to visit these institutions, especially on the signature “open house” weekend. Most people traveling in the area were on their way to Big Bend and either stopped in Marfa for gas or drove right through. A usual visit was, at the most, one night. After visiting the arts museums, there were complaints about “nothing else to do, nothing to see” here at that time.
Over the years, energetic, optimistic people started businesses and organizations. These were and still are the risk takers who significantly changed the offerings of this town. Now we have three hotels, an upscale campground, a motel and countless Airbnbs. There are lots of great restaurants and cool retail stores with unique merchandise. Events and gatherings seem to happen every weekend. The increase in tourism to Marfa is off the charts.
People now come from all over the world to stay in Marfa, for days, even weeks. This, I believe, is because of the rich and unique atmosphere/culture that has developed through the contribution of many people, their businesses, their organizations and through dedicated outreach to promote the offerings of the town.
The HOT funds from the state of Texas are available and funded by the increased number of tourists
staying in hotels and Airbnbs. This dramatic surge of visitors has happened only through the growth and attraction of this town that is a result of the vibrant business and nonprofit community efforts on a daily basis.
I am encouraging this committee of city employees and officials to take this opportunity to show support broadly to the applicants and reward their efforts with a wide distribution of the HOT funds to as many businesses and organizations possible.
Sincerely,
Malinda Beeman
Marfa Maid Dairy
