HARLINGEN, Texas - Everyone is the Rio Grande Valley has heard of Winter Texans. But what about Summer Texans?
These are the tourists Valley International Airport is now trying to attract, according to Nicolás J. Mirman, commercial director at VIA.
In an exclusive video interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, Mirman noted that many of the Winter Texans that stay in Valley come from the Upper Midwest. Summer Texans, he said, come from the central Midwest. Their summers are warm enough but they do not have a beach. Therefore, working with South Padre Island tourism’s department, VIA is trying to attract them in the summer months.
"So, the Winter Texans have traditionally came here because it is very cold up in Minnesota, Wisconsin and in Michigan in the winter. Now the central Midwest, areas Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, the winters are not that cold. I mean, they're cold for us, but they're not so cold for them. But the summers are very, very hot. So what we are developing with the collaboration of some airlines is the Summer Texans, if we can call them that," Mirman said.
"So, in preparation for next summer, we have been working very hard with Southwest to bring back service to northern Texas, to Dallas, because the main selling point for Southwest there is that they have connectivity to places like Omaha, Iowa, Des Moines, St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, out of Dallas. And so during this summer, we will have a little bit of a small Summer Texan program that entails not only United to Houston and American to Dallas DFW, but also Southwest flying into Dallas Love Field every day for the whole summer, every day of the week. And on the weekends there are going to be two flights every day."
Mirman continued: "And so places like Oklahoma, Tulsa, Iowa, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri will have the opportunity to spend their summers here when they are dying of heat pretty much in the summer. And so this is going to be more of an experimental proposition, but if we are successful we will be able to counterbalance the Winter Texans from the Upper Midwest, and the Summer Texans, if you want to call them that, from the central Midwest to the beach here in Texas.
Mirman explained that South Padre Island will be the big selling point to the 'Summer Texans.'
"What they (the central Midwest states) don't have is the ocean and that is the selling point. People from Nebraska, people from Kansas, people from Missouri, people from Oklahoma, don't have access to the ocean. And that is the unique selling point that South Padre and the Rio Grande Valley has for them. We are offering them the opportunity to spend their summer by the ocean instead of going overseas. No need for a passport, very economical too, right here in the Valley."
Mirman was quick to point out VIA not forgetting the Winter Texan market. Indeed, VIA is continuing to reach out to them in big way, he said.
Here is the video interview:
https://youtu.be/xBj_gPDFDlM
