El Paso to host U.S., Mexico tourism industry convention

EL PASO, Texas -- Mayor Oscar Leeser and County Judge Ricardo Samaniego held a joint press conference at City Hall on Wednesday morning to announce that El Paso will host what they described as a "multi-state tourism industry event" later this year.

The Binational Tourism Connection convention will take place December 1st through 3rd, drawing about 400 tourism officials from across the U.S. and Mexico.

This is the second year for the event, which held its first gathering last year in Chihuahua, Mexico.

It will give El Paso a chance to show travel agents from around the border region what the city has to offer to boost tourism.

“Economic development is pushed by tourism more than any other way," Samaniego explained. “I’ve always said over and over and I’ll keep saying it, to know us is to love us, but they have to know us."

ABC-7 asked El Pasoans what they thought is the biggest attraction in city to bring people to visit. The answers included:

• Southwest University Park
• Downtown El Paso
• Friendly people
• Franklin Mountains
• Western Playland amusement park

In order for these attractions to bring tourists in, the U.S.-Mexico border restrictions will have to be lifted -- which is why the mayor continued stressing vaccinations.

“Please get vaccinated because we’ll figure out how to overcome the economy, but we cannot replace lives," Leeser said.

You can watch the entire news conference about the tourism effort in the video player below.