Frisco, Texas, is a Metroplex city on the move, having welcomed major resorts and new attractions that have propelled it into being one of the hottest meetings and events destinations in the U.S.
The world is taking notice, too, as Cvent named the city as a Top Meetings Destination in North America for 2024.
From being one of the top professional sports destinations in the nation via its seven pro sports venues to major new golf resorts and new activity options, Frisco’s time in the spotlight is here.
“Our Omni PGA Frisco Resort opened last May [2023], and that's a 500-room resort with two championship golf courses,” said Christina Decker, director of sales and services for Visit Frisco, of the biggest Frisco resort news. “It's a beautiful, beautiful resort…and was just named the number-one Texas resort by Travel + Leisure in its 2024 World's Best Awards.
“We also have the HALL Park Hotel, our very first Marriott Autograph Collection property,” she continued. “This hotel opens fall 2024 with 224 rooms, and 60 out of those rooms are apartment-style suites. It has 23,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space overlooking our new, beautiful Kaleidoscope Park.”
[Podcast: Visit Frisco's Christina Decker on the Major New Meetings Offerings in This Metroplex Gem]
Following are some of the standout new meetings and events offerings in Frisco that join current favorites such as the Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star, which sits next to the Dallas Cowboys’ 12,000-seat indoor Ford Center at The Star practice facility.
Other major full-service properties, which total to offer more than 4,200 guest rooms, include The Westin Stonebriar Golf Resort & Spa, Hyatt Regency Frisco and Embassy Suites & Frisco Conference Center.
Golf Resort Game-Changer
Set on 600 acres and boasting a mile-long footprint, the 500-room Omni PGA Frisco Resort has lived up to all its preopening hype after launching in May 2023.
Located next to the new PGA of America home office, Omni’s flagship golf resort offers two championship golf courses along with one of the largest natural surface putting greens in the United States.
With a design esthetic taking inspiration from iconic Texas ranch homes, this golf nirvana was built with meetings in mind, offering nearly 130,000 square feet of meeting space, 19 meeting rooms and two ballrooms (23,000 and 11,500 square feet, each with a private event lawn). The 5,000-square-foot Panther Creek Pavilion is a popular special event space.
Containing two of the top four golf resorts in North Texas, Visit Frisco invested in getting its staff certified under MPI’s Golf Tournament Planner Certificate Program to better serve groups planning golf events.
[Related: The Massive New Omni PGA Frisco Is a Golf Resort Game-Changer]
A Colorful Addition
While golf unfolds on meandering expanses of green, Frisco’s new Kaleidoscope Park celebrates a full spectrum of colors and is next to the new HALL Park Hotel, Autograph Collection property, which itself offers nearly 10,000 square feet of outdoor space.
After a more than $7 billion investment to massively upgrade HALL Park, the 162-acre Kaleidoscope Park, scheduled for an October 2024 opening, will focus on extensive public art installations and serve as a colorful backdrop for a variety of public programming, including private events.
Bring the Kids!
Scheduled for a June 2026 opening, the 97-acre, $550 million Universal Kids Resort will be Universal’s third park in the U.S. and the only one dedicated to younger children. The resort will also include a 300-room hotel.
Beer Here!
Tapping into a destination’s craft beer scene has been one of the hottest offsite trends of the last decade, and Frisco’s new Rollertown Beerworks, as well as its existing Three Empires nanobrewery, are ready to roll out the barrels.
After breaking ground in March, the two-level Rollertown Beerworks taproom will feature a 4,320-square-foot outdoor beer garden and 25,000-square-foot event lawn that connects to downtown’s historic grain silos and is expected to open in in mid-2025.
“This space will be ideal for hosting large-scale events, festivals and concerts,” Decker said. “The production facility will feature a brewhouse with over 13,000 square feet. It'll be two levels and feature an indoor/outdoor tap room, beer garden, rooftop deck and outside areas totaling approximately 30,000 square feet of space. It's going to be amazing.”
New Medical Meetings Push
Having mastered the sports market, Visit Frisco’s next push is attracting pharmaceutical and medical meetings to an area blessed with a wealth of top medical facilities.
Decker said the DMO added a new medical market sales position a year ago to further the effort.
“The medical market is up and coming here in Frisco, and this person handles not only pharma, but anything to do with medical,” she said. “It's association, education, medical and then, of course, pharmaceutical. But we are top-notch in the medical industry and excited about this position.”
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This story is sponsored by Visit Frisco.
