Everyone knows everything is bigger in Texas, and destinations in the state’s central and western regions provide groups with big perspectives on both business and fun. Two-nation adventures and Wild West culture that’s authentic and legendary are part of the enticing mix that visitors will discover in this unique part of the Lone Star State.
Abilene
Fort Worth may be where the West begins, but Abilene is where it breaks into full gallop, opined a 2005 article in Texas Highways magazine. And Abilene locals agree.
“We are home to the 10-minute rush hour, and we certainly know plenty about Texas’ frontier days,” says Jennilee Latimer, director of sales for the Abilene CVB.
Latimer says Frontier Texas! is a 14,000-square-foot, group-friendly historical site in downtown Abilene that depicts frontier days between the 1780s and 1880s. The years that transformed the area from open prairie populated by buffalo and Native Americans to ranchlands and pioneer towns come alive via interactive exhibits that utilize multimedia holographs and other technologies to provide up-close experiences of stampeding buffalo, card game shootouts and even a tranquil spring evening filled with fireflies.
“Our great location is our big drawing card,” Latimer says of Abilene’s other major selling points. “We have four major highways coming into the area, so we are a very easy drive from many destinations, including the DFW [Dallas-Fort Worth] Metroplex, Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and other West Texas cities.”
The city’s facilities are well-suited to sports groups, a top market for Abilene, Latimer says, adding that its ideal group size is between 250 and 275 people. State associations also find Abilene attractive for their regional and district meetings.
The Abilene Civic Center is a premier venue for large group events, and the city has roughly 34 hotels and 2,558 guest rooms, with more scheduled to come on-line. A 123-room Hilton Garden Inn will open this summer with 3,100 square feet of meeting space.
Wichita Falls
With a 60,000-square-foot convention center, a 12,000-seat coliseum and a 2,700-seat auditorium located near 2,000 hotel rooms, Wichita Falls boasts some of the most affordable rates in Texas, with national hotel brands including Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, Best Western, and Choice.
With a location halfway between the DFW Metroplex and Oklahoma City, the destination is a popular site for sports groups, expos and concerts.
Out and about, the city offers a diverse array of entertainment options, including the Wichita Falls Winery, two casinos, the Riverbend Nature Center, art and history museums, an antique district, two shopping districts, and after-hours clubs. Biking and hiking trails, rodeo and myriad sporting events are also available for both spectators and participants.
Amarillo
The stars at night really are big and bright in the plains and panhandle region, where the terrain becomes wide and rolling, and groups find plenty of fresh air to invigorate their senses and their meetings programs.
This is where Amarillo—often called one of America’s most Western towns—offers everything from cowboys to canyons and bits of historic Route 66. Visitors enjoy the natural attributes of Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the outdoor musical TEXAS, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the world-renowned dancers at the Kwahadi-Kiva Indian Museum, and the recently renovated American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum.
The city’s largest group facility is the Amarillo Civic Center, with 340,000 square feet of space, including two ballrooms, two exhibit halls, a 2,400-seat auditorium, and a 5,000-seat arena, all under one roof.
Across the street is The Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, which is available for a variety of group events. The center showcases the Amarillo Symphony, the Amarillo Opera and the Lone Star Ballet, among other performances.
The city is enlarging its facilities portfolio with new hotels, which will enable it to host larger groups.
“Amarillo is growing with new hotels already under construction and plans to build a new downtown hotel,” says Courtney Forrest, director of convention sales for the Amarillo CVB. “At the moment, our ideal group size is 3,000, and we host a lot of sports, religious, agricultural, and state association meetings. When we get our downtown hotel, we will be able to welcome a lot of groups that require their hotel to be within walking distance of the civic center.”
A Hilton Garden Inn will debut in mid-2008 with 117 guest rooms as well as meeting facilities, while recent openings have included a Comfort Inn & Suites and the Holiday Inn Express Airport.
Lubbock
Set on the scenic rolling plains, Lubbock is known for its native son Buddy Holly as well as its award-winning wines, and groups meeting in town often partake in both trademark lures by visiting the Buddy Holly Center and holding off-site events, tours and tastings at local wineries.
With 4,373 hotel rooms and more on the way, in addition to the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center and its 300,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, Lubbock is ready to welcome groups of many sizes.
When it opens in spring 2009, Overton Hotel and Conference Center, adjacent to the Texas Tech campus, will further expand the city’s offerings with 304 guest rooms and 47,600 square feet of meeting and event space, including an 11,000-square-foot, column-free ballroom and exhibit area.
“With the Overton center coming on-line, we are now able to market for larger groups,” says Leslie Mathews, sales manager for the Lubbock CVB. “In the past, we’ve had to turn away business, but this new facility really boosts our ability to host larger groups. We are focusing especially on state associations because now we are able to bring more of them into Lubbock.”
Golf is popular with groups that do business in Lubbock. Two championship courses are located at Meadowbrook Golf Course, and The Rawls Course at Texas Tech University is the city’s top-rated links, named one of Golf Magazine’s top 100 courses.
For other forms of recreation, Depot Entertainment District provides a variety of live music and restaurants for attendees to enjoy. The Main Event Entertainment Center has plenty to satisfy indoor sports enthusiasts, including billiards, bowling, laser tag, and more than 100 video and arcade games.
Groups also enjoy visits to area ranches, while the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock is another popular diversion.
Odessa
In and around Odessa and neighboring Midland, often tagged the Big Bend region, groups can find the Lone Star State of classic Western movies, complete with rolling tumbleweeds, cacti, scrub brush, and hot, sandy plains that stretch for miles under clear blue skies. Oil, ranching and wide-open terrain has shaped the culture of the region.
Odessa often hosts state association, SMERF and sports groups of up to 1,000 attendees in its array of meeting facilities.
The city has 1,900 guest rooms in hotels such as MCM Elegante, Hampton Inn and Comfort Suites. Its major hotels offer between 5,000 and 20,000 square feet of meeting space under one roof, and the Ector County Coliseum Complex provides groups with 150,000 square feet of function space, including a 5,000-seat coliseum, exhibit buildings and a covered arena.
During leisure time, Odessa delivers a variety of unique attractions, including the second-largest meteor crater in the U.S., the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library, and a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in England.
Midland
Located halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso, Midland has U.S. presidential history and petroleum products in its veins.
“Midland is your window to the West,” says Becca Saunders, convention sales manager for the Midland CVB. “Our bureau is the planner’s liaison with our facilities, eliminating unnecessary phone calls and e-mails.”
Saunders says the city’s history and tradition of hospitality have a new showcase at the Old Ranking Highway Visitor Center, where visitors learn about Midland history and attractions like the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum and the Museum of the Southwest. It’s also a good place to learn about tours and local sites associated with both Bush presidents. The Midland CVB can organize group tours, including one program spotlighting the former Midland homes of President George H.W. Bush and the childhood homes of President George W. Bush and Laura Bush.
Meanwhile, Midland’s Marion Blakemore Planetarium is undergoing a renovation that is scheduled for completion in mid-2009.
Midland’s primary meeting facility, the Midland Center, is located downtown and features roughly 18,000 square feet of meeting space. The city has 20 hotels with approximately 1,875 guest rooms, including the Midtown Hotel and West Wall Conference Center.
El Paso
On the far western side of Texas, the Lone Star State meets New Mexico and Old Mexico in a vibrant border metropolis that offers international flavor, stellar business facilities and unique entertainment options.
“El Paso aims to attract groups that have not experienced the true West Texas feel,” says Brooke Underwood, director of convention development at the El Paso CVB. “We offer meeting groups the chance to experience a two-nation, three-state destination, where they can meet in many of our hotels but then enjoy free time and evenings either shopping in Juarez, Mexico, gambling in southern New Mexico at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, or visiting our big variety of attractions right here in El Paso. After all, we are the ‘Mexican Food Capital of the World!’”
Underwood says El Paso is large enough to accommodate state and national conferences, and new facilities under construction or on drawing boards will fuel the city’s group marketing strategies. A downtown revitalization project is transforming the area with new brand-name hotels and a new museum district, where the El Paso Holocaust Museum & Study Center will open in its new home in mid-2008.
The 80,000-square-foot El Paso Convention Center is in the heart of downtown, and the city has 3,000 committable hotel rooms for groups.
Other developments include the recent debut of the Hyatt Place El Paso Airport and the opening last October of The Outlet Shoppes at El Paso.
For More Info
Abilene CVB 325.676.2556
www.abilenevisitors.com
Amarillo Convention and Visitor Council 806.374.1497
www.visitamarillotx.com
El Paso CVB 915.534.0601
www.visitelpaso.com
Lubbock CVB 806.747.5232
www.visitlubbock.org
Midland CVB 432.683.3381
www.visitmidlandtx.com
Wichita Falls CVB 940.716.5500
www.wichitafalls.org
