Trying to compose the proverbial 30-second elevator pitch for Texas is one tall order. Even with its lasso of a tagline ("It’s like a whole other country"), Texas Tourism, the state’s visitor marketing organization, concedes, "We couldn’t fit all of Texas into one ad, so we had to run a bunch of ’em." Well, true to its smoky steel barbecue pits and endless roads and complex, singular history and plain true grit, Texas is just fine with the slow-burning narrative approach; call it Texas time. The state is unmatched in the unequivocal, resolute and proud way it blazes its own trail, determines its own heart, and tells its own story, one hot chapter after another.
The Texas name alone is a sure-fire conversation starter. Speaking to a group of meeting and convention planners last year, Gov. Rick Perry talked about traveling abroad.
"I ran into one person after another whose eyes lit up when they heard I was from Texas," he said. "And each of them had a special connection of the state, either from hearing the story of the Alamo, watching a movie like Giant, or spending time somewhere in the state."
Its reputation powerfully precedes it, yet to the uninitiated, Texas can remain a conceptual mix of stereotypes and icons, typically involving the Dallas Cowboys, cattle, J.R. Ewing, oil wells and yes, the Alamo. Truth be told, I was not much wiser before coming here. Now that I’ve been, though, I get it, and cannot get enough—Texas is a 10-gallon drink that keeps you thirsty for more.
My Texas moments, urban and wild alike, play as true as favorite songs. Watching the thundering Ben Hur-style wagon races at the Houston Rodeo, a bona fide Texas original. Touring the Cowboys’ billion-dollar new colossus in Arlington, then kicking a field goal at the soon-to-be-demolished Texas Stadium in Irving. Driving across a moonlit Panhandle at night, watching the sun rise over Lake Conroe in East Texas. Eating rattlesnake in Hill Country, boot shopping in Fort Worth, chasing ghosts on the West Texas frontier. Travel to Texas, and Texas travels with you, always.
Texas has plenty to boast about, including dancing the two-step around the fiscal crisis. According to the Brookings Institution, San Antonio was America’s top-performing city in the first quarter of 2009, with Austin, Houston, Dallas and McAllen finishing third through sixth and El Paso placing 11th. Travel and tourism are second only to energy in the Texas economy, generating direct spending of $56.7 billion in 2007; according to the U.S. Travel Association, roughly 9 percent of direct travel spending on general business, meetings and events in the U.S. occurs in Texas.
Above all, there’s that unmistakable sense of place. Echoing Perry’s comments on the Texas identity, Texas Monthly Executive Editor Mimi Swartz recently wrote, "Despite cable TV, the Internet and the integration of Texas into a homogenized American culture, you can still pick out a Texan in a crowd."
Hotter than ever, this is Texas, where hospitality is a hallmark and memorable meetings are assured.
