Like a lot of everything else in Texas, the fast-growing Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex is big, bold and even a little brassy in some corners—as many of its visitors expect this supersized culture to be.
The major cities of Dallas on the east side and Fort Worth on the west side of the region are bookends for several meetings-ready cities in between—Irving, Grapevine, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, Mesquite—all locations with their own individual appeal for groups.
Even the airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International, is getting bigger and better. So much so that a new region-wide marketing initiative seeks to siphon market share off some key destination competitors. It promotes the airport’s new $1.2 billion international air terminal, expanding international airlift, and Skylink train system that moves up to 5,000 passengers an hour among five terminals.
The region’s air access doesn’t depend solely on DFW International, however. Dallas’ Love Field also carries millions of passengers a year directly into that city via low-cost carriers Southwest Airlines, Continental Express and American Airlines/American Eagle.
As for affordability, the DFW Metroplex’s cost of living and doing business has been set at about 9 percent less than other U.S. metropolitan areas, and that means value for groups.
Dallas
Big D is changing its downtown image so fast, TV’s J.R. Ewing and his ’80s-era oil buddies wouldn’t recognize it.
“We are in the midst of a $12 million development boom,” says Phillip Jones, president and CEO of the Dallas CVB. “The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas opened last summer, and coming in 2009 is a new Mandarin Oriental hotel. Many great new restaurants and entertainment stops are already open or coming. The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, with five venues for music, opera, theater, and dance, also opens in 2009.”
There’s much more in the rampup toward 2013 and beyond, according to Jones, and much of what’s new adds significantly to Dallas’ meetings-ready package.
“Along with our excellent facilities and attractions, Dallas and the rest of the Metroplex offer affordability,” Jones says. “People can stay at the new Ritz-Carlton, Dallas or Four Seasons Dallas at a third of the cost of those hotels in New York City.
“Our big push is the convenience of getting here,” he adds. “DFW has great airlift and convenience, less the three-hour waits you must endure in some airports. A new airport marketing initiative has our entire North Texas area out to shift some of the market share from Miami and Houston to Dallas.”
Jones also points to Dallas’ Victory Park development, a master-planned urban design that connects Dallas’ revitalizing downtown district to affluent districts such as Uptown and Turtle Creek, home to Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, which just wrapped up a multimillion-dollar makeover of its renowned restaurant and bar.
When complete, Victory Park will feature high-end residences, retail outlets, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, restaurant and entertainment stops such as the recently opened House of Blues Dallas, office space, and the W Dallas Victory Hotel. American Airlines Center, Dallas’ newest sports, entertainment and performance venue, anchors Victory Park.
Dallas Museum of Nature and Science is another Victory Park component that’s scheduled to debut in 2009. The new facility, situated on a 4.7-acre site, will offer a park-like environment where exhibits and other resources will demonstrate ways to preserve the Earth’s resources. Contemporary technologies, authentic collections, hands-on activities, artwork, and other media will support the museum’s key educational information.
All the new and upcoming downtown projects support the Dallas Convention Center (DCC), which offers 767,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, a 9,800-seat arena, two ballrooms, 100 meeting rooms, and a large, elevated heliport. DCC is accessible via DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail, with its own DART stop.
Fort Worth
Groups in search of Old Texas heritage and fun, along with modern meeting facilities and services, often find what they are looking for in the city that’s been dubbed “where the West begins” for many years. With its smaller-city feel, Fort Worth offers a contrast to Dallas’ vast urban profile.
Fort Worth is also home to some of the DFW Metroplex’s largest and most unique cultural attractions, such as the world-renowned Kimball Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum, both repositories for major European, American and American Western art pieces. The National Cowgirl Museum and Bass Performance Hall—scene of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition—are also important components of the cultural district near downtown.
Fort Worth Convention Center, with more than 253,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 28,160-square-foot ballroom, and Sundance Square, an historic area named for the famed kid of the same name, who used the Fort Worth area as a hideout, are two reasons groups book the Metroplex’s western extremity. By late 2008, this downtown district will have even more group appeal, when the new 600-room Omni Fort Worth Hotel opens adjacent to the convention center.
“By January 2009, Fort Worth will offer a premier second-tier city package that we are aggressively promoting internationally as well as nationally,” says David DuBois, president and CEO of the Fort Worth CVB. “We will be attending international industry shows and partnering with Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio to promote Texas to audiences abroad.
“We are also holding up DFW International Airport as the best international airport in the middle of the world,” he adds. “Texas and the Metroplex in particular are bargain destinations for both Europe and Asia, and we have the airlift they want. KLM is adding direct flights from Amsterdam in March, and American Airlines and British Airways are both adding direct flights to London Heathrow in 2008. We also have great airlift via Korean Air and American Airlines to the Pacific Rim.”
DuBois says the airport marketing project also targets the Latin America market and, for the first time in about 30 years, Canada.
Even as affordability, air access and new group facilities continue to make Fort Worth more meetings equipped than ever, the city’s culture and heritage remain her best group draw.
Fort Worth Stockyards, a National Historic District, is one of the city’s premier selling points. Stories of gunslingers and rough riders abound in Stockyards streets and museums. Shops and restaurants serve up their own measure of the Old West, too, and a night at the Stockyards rodeo or Billy Bob’s Texas—the spot that continues to hold onto its moniker as the “World’s Largest Honky Tonk”—will ensure a memorable DFW Metroplex encounter.
About 20 miles north of Fort Worth is the Texas Motor Speedway, hosting Indy Car and NASCAR racing events. Groups can also take advantage of racing schools at the speedway.
Nearby meetings-friendly properties include Doral Tesoro Hotel and Golf Club, located across the street from the speedway.
The American Airlines Training and Conference Center, a Dolce International property, is another top option on the outskirts of Fort Worth.
Grapevine
Grapevine has taken its name to heart in recent years and added a few wineries to its historic downtown district—a great place for attendees to spend downtime shopping, dining and sampling the local vino.
Besides its charming and quaint core, Grapevine is arrival central for most DFW Metroplex visitors, as the home of DFW International Airport, and with major meetings-ready properties such as Hyatt Regency DFW, Grand Hyatt DFW and Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference Center, the destination packs a wealth of group lures.
Gaylord Texan on Lake Grapevine has become a destination unto itself since it opened in 2004, and the resort recently announced plans to add 500 more guest rooms and 250,000 square feet of meeting space. The expansion will bring the resort’s total room count to 2,000 and its total square footage of meeting space to 650,000.
The city’s newest addition, Great Wolf Lodge, opened its first phase in December. When complete in late 2008, the 605-suite property will feature a 98,000-square-foot entertainment area with a Texas-sized indoor waterpark, several restaurants and 27,000 square feet of function space that will contain a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and multiple meeting rooms.
Arlington
Arlington used to be defined primarily by its geography, as merely a halfway point between Dallas and Fort Worth. But major new developments are raising its profile locally and internationally. Coming to Arlington in the next couple of years are a new billion-dollar, 80,000-seat stadium for the Dallas Cowboys; the 2011 Super Bowl; and Glorypark, a 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-used development near Arlington Convention Center.
A 300-room Westin hotel offering 55,000 square feet of function space, including a 13,000-square-foot ballroom, will open in Glorypark in time for the 2011 Super Bowl. Additionally, in 2010 a 140-room aloft property by Starwood Hotels and Resorts will debut.
Brenda Scott, vice president of sales, marketing and services for the Arlington CVB, says Glorypark will enable the city to attract more business groups.
“Glorypark will have an impact on our bureau’s marketing and soliciting of conventions and meetings business,” Scott says. “The additional hotel room inventory is crucial to our ability to compete for meetings business.”
Meanwhile, the Sheraton Arlington Hotel is adjacent to the convention center, and the property is undergoing a major renovation of its 310 guest rooms and 21,000 square feet of meeting space.
One of Arlington’s biggest attractions, Six Flags Over Texas, offers 100 amusement park rides, shows and attractions, and Texas Rangers Ballpark showcases America’s favorite pastime, along with a sports museum, Legends of the Game Baseball Museum, which chronicles the sport’s big moments.
Irving
From its location in the heart of the Metroplex near DFW International Airport, Irving is the international headquarters or regional base for corporations such as Exxon/Mobil and other Fortune 500 names. Because of its corporate presence, Irving hotels are used to hosting business groups of up to 350 people, sometimes on short notice.
Irving’s most prominent meetings properties include Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas and the Marriott Las Colinas. Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas, Texas’ only AAA Five Diamond hotel, is in the midst of a $150 million expansion that will include 30 additional villa suites, a second resort-style pool and a complete overhaul of the Tournament Players Course Las Colinas, home of the PGA Tour’s annual EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
Joining Irving’s hotel lineup early this year will be aloft Las Colinas, the first installment of Starwood’s aloft brand in Texas. The 136-room property will have a hip urban design and contemporary tech amenities. Element Irving, from Westin Hotels and Resorts, will also be the first Element hotel in Texas when it is unveiled in October with 123 guest rooms, full kitchens and a design for extended-stay guests.
Meanwhile, Wyndham DFW Airport North is a newly rebranded property with 282 guest rooms near the airport. Its $13 million renovation has transformed the former Holiday Inn Select hotel into a full-service property with Wyndham’s signature design and features.
Plano
As home to one of television’s most iconic homesteads, Plano welcomes those who want big-city proximity and an attraction that engages almost everyone with any knowledge of Southfork Ranch, the Dallas TV series home of the oil-rich Ewing clan.
The ranch still has the Ewing presence in its memorabilia collection, but it’s also a modern-day event venue with a conference center and ballrooms that host more than 1,400 events annually for up to 2,000 people each. Contemporary audiovisual equipment, menu selections and stellar hospitality services make Southfork one of the most sought-after event sites in North Texas.
Beyond Southfork, Plano is a city that means business, says Mark Thompson, director of the Plano CVB.
“Plano is home to 15 Fortune 500 companies, and everyone in Plano understands how important it is to meet and exceed the expectations of sophisticated business people visiting our city,” Thompson says. “The staff at our bureau has the experience, desire and ability to help planners make their next meeting in Plano a total success.”
Plano is pumping up its portfolio of meeting facilities and services. A new Staybridge Suites with 112 guest units as well as a Hyatt Place hotel with 127 guest rooms have been added in the past year. The newest hotel on the Plano scene is NYLO Hotel, a contemporary lifestyle brand with 176 guest rooms and a sleek urban design. This year, Plano will add two new full-service properties: a 240-room Doubletree and a 276-room Renaissance. Starwood Hotels and Resorts also announced plans to break ground this year on a 136-room aloft hotel in Plano.
Plano Centre is the city’s largest convention venue, with 33,000 square feet of flexible function space, including 17 breakout rooms that accommodate up to 5,000 attendees. The exhibition hall has 21,600 square feet of column-free space.
Frisco
As one of the DFW Metroplex’s newest, most rapidly expanding residential and business communities, Frisco is adding several hotels to its meetings-ready lineup.
Frisco’s Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center is one of only two resort and conference center properties in the DFW Metroplex, and it offers groups 330 suites and 90,000 square feet of meeting space—including a 42,000-square-foot ballroom—the second-largest in the region. Additionally, Holiday Inn Stonebriar has 120 rooms and 2,500 square feet of meeting space, plus a full-service restaurant.
Numerous hotels are being added to Frisco’s portfolio.
Joining the meetings portfolio early this year will be the 117-room Homewood Suites by Hilton Dallas–Frisco, with studios and one- and two-bedroom suites, and a 1,000-square-foot meeting room.
Also coming on-line is Sheraton Stonebriar, with 120 guest rooms and spa services next to its sister hotel, Westin Stonebriar Resort, featuring 301 guest rooms and 24,000 square feet of meeting space.
Hilton Garden Inn arrives this fall with 109 guest rooms.
Comfort Suites is slated to debut this summer with 109 suites and 1,500 square feet of meeting space across from Pizza Hut Park, a 21,000-seat stadium that is home to Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas and the location of Verizon Wireless Club, an ideal venue for private events during non-game days, according to Marla Roe, executive director of the Frisco CVB.
“It can accommodate about 350 people, and it offers a view of the playing field from its glassed-in perch,” Roe says.
Frisco offers more spectator fun, along with private group suites and party pavilions at its other sports sites: Dr Pepper Ballpark, home to the Frisco RoughRiders, a Texas Rangers baseball affiliate, and Dr Pepper StarCenter, home to the Dallas Stars NHL team.
For sports culture alternatives, Heritage Center Museum, where a century of local history will be on display, will be unveiled in March. The center will be adding a collection of vintage buildings for its living history component, and Babe’s Chicken Dinner House, where up to 300 people may be seated for some finger lickin’ good eats.
Mesquite
Best known for its Mesquite Championship Rodeo, Mesquite has one of the DFW Metroplex’s best stops for groups to really get inside some traditional Western culture on Friday and Saturday nights from April through December.
Since 1958, Mesquite’s rodeo has been providing rodeo excitement for guests from all over the world. Bull and bronc riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, and barrel racing are some of the regular events. Cowboy poker, rodeo clowns and a Texas gift shop round out the rodeo’s many experiences. Groups may enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the 5,500-seat arena, including a visit to the suite level and a look behind the chutes. Groups can add a barbecue lunch from legendary Sonny Bryan’s for a delicious dining addition.
Next to the rodeo arena is the 5-year-old Mesquite Convention Center and Exhibit Hall, with 21,000 square feet of ballroom and breakout space, plus 35,000 square feet of exhibit space. Also next to the arena and the convention center is the 160-room Hampton Inn and Suites.
Mesquite is located just east of Dallas and offers a small-town ambience with competitive prices and good proximity to all the nightlife, restaurants, shopping, and other features the big city down the road has to offer.
For More Info
Arlington CVB 817.265.7721
www.arlington.org
Dallas CVB 214.571.1000
www.visitdallas.com
Fort Worth CVB 817.336.8791
www.fortworth.com
Frisco CVB 972.963.9225
www.visitfrisco.com
Grapevine CVB 817.410.3185
www.grapevinetexasusa.com
Irving CVB 972.252.7476
www.irvingtexas.com
Mesquite COC 972.285.0211
www.mesquitechamber.com
Plano CVB 972.941.5848
www.planocvb.com
