Sunny, cultural and naturally endowed destinations combine with con- temporary group facilities to provide all the ingredients for successful meetings in South Texas. This slice of the Lone Star State in the semi-tropical Rio Grande Valley and on the Gulf of Mexico attracts business groups interested in casual destinations that take a break from buttoned-down urban sites.
A family-friendly ambience, competitive rates and good air access are
among the region’s biggest selling points, in addition to its many leisure diversions. Warm Gulf waters beckon attendees to swim, fish, sail, sunbathe, or just take relaxing strolls on a beach after a day of meetings. It is also one of the best bird-watching spots in North America, a region where nearly 500 bird species and 300 kinds of butterflies converge during migration. Meanwhile, cultural lures range from intriguing museums and historic sites to the international flavor of Mexico towns located just across the border.
Corpus Christi
With its location on the Gulf Coast, Corpus Christi is a premier meetings destination in South Texas, offering fun-in-the-sun activities and wildlife encounters, along with attractive facility rates. The pleasant climate and laid-back atmosphere attract groups especially from November through February.
In 2007, Smith Travel Research placed Corpus Christi’s average hotel rate at just under $78, a bargain against the nationwide average of over $107.
Direct airline service into Corpus Christi International Airport from Dallas, Houston and Atlanta is another plus for meeting attendees, and the airport is less than 20 minutes by car from the downtown district and area beaches.
“Corpus Christi is the destination to break out of the ordinary for your next meeting,” says Ed Persall, vice president of convention sales for the Corpus Christi CVB. “Most meeting planners are pleased with the amount of attendance they receive for their conferences here. Corpus Christi is a playground for all ages because we offer unique experiences like kayaking, horseback riding on the beach, tile making, bay fishing, and sand sculpturing.”
Persall says many groups meet in the American Bank Center, the city’s top group facility. The center offers 500,000 square feet of event space, including a 20,000-square-foot ballroom and 22 meeting rooms. The adjacent multipurpose arena seats up to 10,000 people.
The Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center is another group facility that’s located adjacent to the American Bank Center and on the Port of Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The center provides soundproof, flexible meeting facilities for up to 2,000 people, including a banquet hall and outdoor plaza.
The city offers 11,000 hotel and condo guest rooms, including the Best Western Marina Grand Hotel, with its beachfront and bayfront amenities, 173 guest rooms and 5,000 square feet of meeting space. The Omni Corpus Christi Hotel recently completed an extensive renovation of its 821 guest rooms and 38,000 square feet of meeting space. The Holiday Inn Corpus Christi Airport Hotel and Conference Center is only minutes from the airport and provides 237 guest rooms and 12,000 square feet of meeting space. It has a nightclub available for event rental and a ballroom that accommodates up to 500 guests.
Corpus Christi has excellent public transportation options that connect local attractions and major group facilities. A new summer harbor ferry connects downtown with Corpus Christi Beach, Texas State Aquarium, USS Lexington Museum, hotels, and restaurants. A Bayfront Connector Trolley stops at the ferry and the Solomon P. Ortiz International Center.
Laredo
Laredo is the largest inland port in the Southern U.S. It has a diverse economy, with significant new growth in the retail, import/export, petroleum, and natural gas industries. Texas A&M International University and Laredo Community College are two of Laredo’s sites for higher learning.
The city’s location across the border from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, gives it a vibrant cultural flavor, reflected in its annual festivals and many attractions. More than 250 years old, the city is also one of the most historically rich places in Texas.
Significant growth in the hospitality sector is giving Laredo more hotel rooms than it has ever had, augmenting existing standbys like the recently renovated La Posada Hotel/Suites, with its Spanish colonial ambience. Among the newcomers are properties by Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn Express, La Quinta Inn, Red Roof Inn, and Staybridge Suites. Several of these new properties are located in the vicinity of the Laredo Entertainment Center, a 10,000-seat multipurpose arena that is home to the Laredo Bucks hockey team and available for group events.
Laredo Civic Center is the city’s principal convention facility, with a 24,500-square-foot banquet and exhibit hall and four meeting rooms.
Nearby is historic downtown Laredo, two international bridges to Mexico and Laredo International Airport.
For those interested in nature, the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center on the campus of Laredo Community College is an oasis of learning about plants and animals of the Rio Grande Watershed. Outdoor ponds feature alligators, turtles and fish of the region. A planted area displays more than 50 varieties of native vegetation, including a cactus garden, a wildflower hill and brush plants. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, and rodents are on exhibit inside aquariums and terrariums.
Groups may also take advantage of the Laredo CVB’s offer to customize itineraries that yield rewarding birding experiences.
McAllen
The Texas Tropics Nature Festival happens every April in McAllen, and it spotlights nearby Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, one of the top 10 birding sites in the nation. There are six wildlife refuges less than an hour’s drive from the city, but birds are not the only inhabitants.
McAllen is a base for hunting and fishing experiences, as well as freshwater and deep-sea fishing. As the locals say, “the valley and nearby Mexico provide the waters, the woods and the fields to satisfy every outdoor sportsman’s interests.”
Visitors also enjoy the International Museum of Art & Science and the Museum of South Texas History. Artists are at work at the McAllen Creative Incubator and at galleries all over the city.
Adding a touch of Mexican culture to the McAllen experience is neighboring Reynosa, Mexico, located just across the border, while Monterrey, Mexico, is a two-hour drive from McAllen.
At the top of McAllen’s list of group amenities is the new McAllen Convention Center, which opened in 2007 as the largest single meeting facility in the Rio Grande Valley. Equipped with 175,000 square feet of space, the center has a 70,000-square-foot, column-free exhibit hall, 16 breakout rooms and a 10,000-square-foot ballroom. Upscale shopping is available adjacent to the center. New hotels within walking distance of the center are also coming on-line.
Ernie Arredondo, director of sales for the McAllen CVB, says the opening of the new center last year enables the city to target an entirely new meetings market—large groups of up to 3,000 people.
Business groups that choose McAllen also take advantage of great air access via major carriers like American, Southwest, Continental, and Delta, as well as affordable hotel rates.
Harlingen
“Winter Texans”—those visitors and part-time residents who flock to Harlingen from the north in cold-weather months—pick the destination for its proximity to Gulf beaches and palm trees, wildlife preserves and casual valley culture.
Business groups like the same Harlingen attributes and enjoy visits to the Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, where they often sight Harlingen’s official bird, the great kiskadee, and other avian stars. Biking, walking along nature trails and fishing off South Padre Island are some of the other active recreational options that are popular with visitors.
Groups also enjoy trolley tours spotlighting Silk Stocking Row, with its vintage homes, and picturesque Jackson Street, with its Art Deco and mid-century modern architecture. Groups may also tour the Marine Military Academy, a college prep school, to learn about cadet life and World War II history. Outlet malls and antique shops are among the other attractions available to groups meeting in Harlingen.
One of Harlingen’s principal meeting sites is the Regional Academic Health Center, a branch of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The 94,000-square-foot complex has a medical library, an auditorium, classrooms, and a video teleconferencing center.
South Padre Island
There’s a reason why South Padre Island is Texas’ most popular tropical filming locale. Makers of music videos, TV shows, commercials, and motion pictures often select the island for its beautiful beaches, sunsets and tropical background.
Business groups also find the environment to their liking. The island’s unspoiled natural beaches, sand dunes, nature trails, bird preserves, and temperate climate warmed by Gulf waters are irresistible for rest and relaxation, while its group venues provide all the facilities and amenities for business productivity.
Attendees and their families enjoy the destination’s beach culture and waterborne activities, such as scuba diving and Black Dragon Cruises, one of the newest options. Not since the days of Blackbeard have people seen such a gathering of thieves, brigands, pirates, and back-stabbing blackguards. Groups that invite them aboard the two-hour cruise also enjoy a sail around the Laguna Madre, where they see dolphins and other wildlife as they listen to fish tales, exaggerations and yarns. Wildlife enthusiasts can also go for boat trips to the back bays and channel islands to see wildlife in their natural habitats. Customized boat trips include afternoon and dinner cruises.
Meanwhile, the Dolphin and Nature Research Center provides interaction with sea creatures for educational and conservation purposes.
Connie Ledbetter, deputy director of the South Padre Island CVB, says state associations are the destination’s primary meetings market.
“A lot of our groups of 200 or less come out of Austin,” she says. “People love to come to the island, and many are willing to use two and three properties if need be. We are rapidly becoming a scuba diving destination, and many groups like to bring their families along when they come for business meetings. To meet the demand, we are looking to expand our convention center and build a larger hotel facility to accommodate larger groups that want to come here.”
One of South Padre’s newest hotels is The Suites at Sunchase, a 90-room, all-suites property with daily, weekly and monthly rentals available. It overlooks Laguna Madre and the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway. The Suites at Sunchase conference center has 16,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, and accommodates up to 480 people for receptions. Contemporary high-tech amenities and a staff of sales and meeting professionals are available.
The South Padre Convention Center, located along the bay, has 45,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, plus decor that has made it a site to see because of its vibrant exterior mural paintings.
Additional facilities favored by groups meeting in the destination include Sheraton South Padre Island, Bahia Mar Resort and Conference Center, and Radisson Resort South Padre Island.
Brownsville
Bird watching draws visitors from all over the world, and the annual Brownsville International Birding & Nature Festival in February is a major event, during which attendees participate in field trips, seminars and other programs that explore the biodiversity of South Texas and Northern Mexico. Nearby Gulf beaches and a semi-tropical climate add to the destination’s allure for both business groups and leisure visitors, especially during winter months.
The Sabal Palm Audubon Center attracts serious birders and casual lovers of nature. It is home to many native species of plants and animals that do not appear anywhere else in the U.S. The center has one of the most beautiful ecosystems in South Texas and Northern Mexico. A small portion of an extensive Sabal Palm forest that used to grow extensively in the Rio Grande region remains protected on 557 acres of the sanctuary. The preserve specializes in educational tours and activities.
After-business options also find groups in the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, which is the only fine art site in South Texas. It is located next to the Gladys Porter Zoo, another wildlife attraction inside 26 acres of tropical plants.
Visitors can also head to Matamoros, Mexico, which is just across the Rio Grande River from Brownsville. Shopping for pottery, jewelry and arts and crafts is a popular diversion, in addition to dining and exploring historic downtown Matamoros, home to an 18th century cathedral.
Brownsville typically hosts smaller meetings of 300 to 400 people, and they often use the Brownsville Event Center, featuring a 15,500-square-foot ballroom. The Jacob Brown Memorial Center has an auditorium for up to 1,593 people, and Holiday Inn-Brownsville is a full-service hotel with a ballroom and two boardrooms.
For More Info
Brownsville CVB 956.546.3721 www.brownsville.org
Corpus Christi CVB 361.881.1812 www.corpuschristicvb.com
Harlingen Area COC 956.423.5440 www.visitharlingentexas.com
Laredo CVB 956.794.1711 www.visitlaredo.com
McAllen CVB 956.682.2871 www.mcallencvb.com
South Padre Island CVB 956.761.3005 www.sopadre.com
