Texas’s Center of Fun Draws Groups
It’s easy to see why Arlington, Texas, is called “Fun Central.” Home to a host of attractions like Six Flags over Texas, the Texas Rangers baseball team and the famous Hurricane Harbor water park, there are plenty of resources for planners to stage memorable and affordable events. “It is a joy to work…with all of the folks in Arlington,” says J.J. Colburn, program director for The After-School Corporation, an educational group that recently met in Arlington. Other groups recently in the city include the Great American Scrapbook Company Annual Scrapbookers Convention, with 4,000 attendees, and the International Feline Showcase, with 250 attendees.
Arlington is renowned for the variety and availability of its meeting facilities. Foremost among the choices is the Arlington Convention Center, which offers a 48,600 square-foot exhibit hall and a 30,000 square-foot Grand Hall, each of which is subdividable. There are also another 8,500 square feet of dedicated meeting space on-site.
The city offers numerous unique venues, as well. At Ameriquest Field, home of the Texas Rangers, there are options for groups of up to 500 people in various parts of the park, while at Six Flags over Texas and its sister facility Hurricane Harbor, groups of up to 20,000 people can be hosted. Other sites include Cowboys, a popular country-Western themed dancehall perfect for up to 4,000 people, while the Museum of Art, Veterans Park, and many other facilities can accommodate SMERF groups of various sizes. The city offers more than a dozen meetings-appropriate hotels in the heart of the city for any budget, ranging from the Holiday Inn Express to the Wyndham Arlington.
SMERF planners don’t have to navigate the selection alone. The Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau offers a host of services to make planning and executing an event as easy as possible. The CVB is happy to help planners identify and select appropriate sites and hotels in the planning process, as well as recommend tour guides, speakers and complimentary services to help build attendance. For those using peak hotel nights, the CVB will provide two “Fun Central” name badges, plastic bags, brochures and even a VIP welcome. For groups using more than 350 rooms across two or more Arlington hotels, the CVB offers free housing services including Internet software for online reservations and personalized attention from the CVB services coordinator. The CVB also has extensive experience creating compelling spouse and guest programs to entertain the whole family while business is under way.
Just a 15-minute drive from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, a major regional hub, Arlington has the added benefit of being easy to reach. The neighboring city of Dallas is easy to reach for a day or evening trip, although it’s not likely attendees will have any desire to leave “Fun Central.”
For More Information
Contact the Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-433-5374 or www.arlington.org.
