El Paso celebrates National Travel & Tourism Week with Mariachi and aguas frescas

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The organization in charge of promoting tourism in the city is celebrating National Travel & Tourism Week “El Paso style.”

To celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week, which is from May 19 to 25, Visit El Paso held a series of events aimed at celebrating the importance of visitors and tourism in the borderland.

KFOX14/CBS4 caught up with Visit El Paso’s Executive Director Brooke Underwood outside the Southwest University Park downtown, as her organization was handing out free beverages and jamming to Mariachi music.

Describing the celebration, Underwood said,

El Paso does [it] ‘El Paso style’ with aguas frescas and Mariachi music on a great day.

Underwood wants El Pasoans to celebrate their community to hopefully bring more tourism.

“People are coming out, telling us ‘what are you doing?’, we are saying ‘we are celebrating you,’” Underwood said, “Ask your family and friends to come back and visit.”

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The celebration will continue Thursday with the launch of a revamped version of the Visit El Paso website, which Underwood hopes will be more interactive and engaging with visitors.

That launch is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Then on Saturday, Visit El Paso will take participants on a tour meant to showcase the beauty of the El Paso community, so they can help spread the word as tourism ambassadors.

Let’s change the perception of this area flooding them with good, positive media,” Underwood said.

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The week started festivities on Monday with proclamations by the El Paso County and City of El Paso Council designating officially this week as National Travel & Tourism Week.

Then, on Tuesday, Visit El Paso hosted a mural tour where participants rode with El Paso artist Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado who highlighted the murals that bring color to the borderland.

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