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Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: Sat 01/13/2007
Section: B
Page: 2
Edition: 3 STAR

MLK parade goes national, attracting younger travelers / City officials see big impact from students marching from out of state

By SALATHEIA BRYANT
Staff

The Jack Robey Junior High School's Band of Pride will miss the Martin Luther King Jr. day parade in its hometown of Pine Bluff, Ark., next week. That's because the band will be marching in Houston's King parade.

To local officials' delight, the Robey band won't be the only student unit heading to the Bayou City for Monday's parade. The homegrown event has become an unlikely draw for the city, with participants expected to come in from Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma and other Texas towns to march in the parade or compete in the battle of the bands contest at the Astrodome. Still others will come for today's youth parade.

The trend has local officials looking at the student travel market in a new way.

It is a market the Michigan-based Student & Youth Travel Association says is growing three times faster than the overall travel market. Among the reasons the market is coveted are that students often travel in groups and have a low level of last-minute cancellations.

Economic impact

Officials with the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau said the city attracted about 23,000 students from out of town last year to visit such attractions as the George Ranch or attend space camp.

The bureau estimates the economic impact related to students coming into town for the King parade at $150,000; the overall local impact of the MLK events was put around $10 million.

"Schools are looking for experiences for their kids. All of it is about experience. That's why it has become so popular," said Jorge Franz, executive director of tourism for the convention and visitors bureau.

"In general, parades tend to be local but, he (MLK Parade Foundation Chairman Charles Stamps) is reaching out for out-of-towners. It is a very unique thing. It has every potential to be a huge economic impact."

Michael Palmer, executive director of the Student & Youth Travel Association, said some 150 convention and tourism offices have marketing plans aimed at attracting the student travel market, with music travel as one of the largest segments.

The Robey Junior High's band, for example, will spend more than $40,000 to make the trip to Houston by chartered bus. They have booked 80 hotel rooms and plan to bring about 250 band members and close to 200 parents.

Darrel McField, the band's director, said it has traveled to 15 states, making at least one major trip every year.

Reward for students

For McField, it's worth the travel time to reward the students for their hard work and to showcase their talent.

"We save our money up all year and do fundraisers just to make this trip," McField said. "It's a reward for them. A lot of kids wouldn't get an opportunity to travel except for this trip."

Stamps estimates that 40 percent of the 36,000 who will participate in the Jan. 15 parade are from out of town.

Stamps said that by adding today's youth parade he expects to draw more out of town students. That parade is expected to draw 13,000 participants.

"My goal is to be the number one event in America. The celebrating for Dr. King richly deserves that," Stamps said. "In 13 years, we've taken a community-based parade and turned it into a national level event."

Tanya Wall, president and CEO of Encore Destinations Management Services, based in Decatur, Ga., is working with at least seven bands coming for the parade. She is arranging hotel rooms, meals and entertainment activities for them.

"A lot of bands look for parades and battle-of-the-band events together," said Wall, who graduated from Jack Yates High School and Texas Southern University. "It's an opportunity for kids to get out there and show what they know. They are seeing this parade as an excellent opportunity."

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