Even though they say “everything’s bigger in Texas,” that doesn’t mean some of the state’s smaller cities aren’t just as appealing for meeting planners as the state’s major metropolitan areas. With that in mind, we’ve corralled some choices – from big to small, west to south, deserts to beaches. Hold on to your hats, here we go:
Big City Appeal
Houston is by far the largest city in Texas, both in terms of square miles and population. But the irresistible pull of Houston isn’t just its size. Think cosmopolitan sophistication: Residents are serious about cuisine, the arts, shopping and, of course, a Texas-sized dose of hospitality.
A major expansion of the city’s convention infrastructure has been undertaken in recent years, and the Greater Houston Convention/Visitors Bureau lauds the results. “The Convention Center expansion is complete. The stadiums are built. We’ve added hotels. Downtown’s nightlife has resurged. METRORail is running. This is the absolute best time to be in Houston,” says Ken Middleton, Vice President of Sales for the GHCVB.
Indeed, Houston offers meeting planners endless options to entertain and inspire convention attendees. Kemah Boardwalk, Space Center Houston, Moody Gardens, Minute Maid Park, Schlitterbahn Water Park, Houston Zoo and the Museum of Fine Arts are among the top attractions. In 2006, the city hosted 309 conventions, events and shows, making it one of the nation’s top 25 convention draws, according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA). Looking for space? You can accommodate your guests at one of more than 15 hotels, with over 5,000 rooms available in the downtown district alone. The Greater Houston area currently boasts more than 60,000 rooms.
Houston isn’t the only big city with appeal. More than 21 million visitors a year flock to San Antonio – the second largest city in Texas (that’s right, bigger than Dallas). This is a place with a vibrant history and wildly colorful culture. You can bank on some of the best Mexican cuisine in Texas while visiting here. In addition, this bustling hotspot boasts five of the top 10 tourist attractions in Texas: The Alamo (#1); the River Walk (#2); SeaWorld San Antonio (#3); Six Flags Fiesta Texas (#8) and the San Antonio Zoo (#9).
The city recently began a $216 million improvement project to lengthen its famed River Walk from three to 13 miles, making it the nation’s largest linear park. The Paseo del Rio, as it’s known locally, is a stretch of beautifully landscaped waterfront walkways that feature many of San Antonio’s most spectacular hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shopping centers and businesses, as well as winding alongside the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Designed to evoke Venice, the River Walk has helped craft the city’s economy and inspire its culture. The planned extension will connect the original River Walk to San Antonio’s four Spanish colonial missions to the south (the Mission Reach), as well as to museums, the historic Pearl Brewery and cultural attractions to the north (the Museum Reach). The first stage of the project is scheduled for completion in 2009.
Religious organizations will take special interest in the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. All four churches within the boundaries of this park are active Catholic parishes, each holding regular services. Military enthusiasts will be impressed with The Alamo’s collection of battle artifacts and its educational tours recounting the famous confrontation. In addition, four military bases call San Antonio home: Brooks City-Base, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base.
With all this, San Antonio is a convention magnet. Nearly 4 million people visit the city for conventions and other business meetings annually. As a result, you have an experienced hospitality workforce that really knows how to meet your event needs. There are over 180 hotels in the San Antonio area offering planners more than 35,000 rooms – 12,500 of which are in the downtown area and near the Convention Center.
For additional Texas-sized excitement, check out the “Big D” – Dallas, that is. Barbeque and business work hand in hand to please your meeting-goers when you book an event here. The city’s new slogan: “Live Large. Think Big.” says it all. You can expect more for your money and better-than-ever meeting accommodations.
For example, the new “Joule” opens this spring, transforming an historic building into a 125-room luxury boutique hotel with top-flight restaurants and facilities. The revitalized Dallas Arts District consists of 17 contiguous blocks featuring cultural attractions, including potential off-site event venues like the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). The district also now sports the 10-acre One Arts Plaza on its eastern edge. The multi-use complex provides retail, restaurant, accommodations and business centers in one swank location.
Looking ahead, a new Dallas Convention Center Hotel is slated to open in 2012. And the Dallas Convention Center is consistently rated as having the “Top Management/Staff,” “Top Exhibit Space,” and as being “Best Managed” by peer groups and users alike. One reason is the facility’s 2002 expansion, making it the world’s largest singular column-free exhibit hall in the world, at 203,000 square feet.
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Mid-Sized Mojo
Austin and El Paso rank as the 4th- and 6th-largest cities in Texas, respectively, but their populations are only about half the size of those in Dallas or San Antonio. They’re sizable enough, however, to ensure you’ve got plenty of choices for your event.
Educators, in particular, find Austin intriguing. Home to the nation’s largest public university, The University of Texas showcases numerous important literary, artistic, historic and political collections. In addition, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum are located on campus.
Of course, no event in Austin is complete without taking advantage of the music scene. It’s as diverse as it is deep, known as “a cradle of musical talent,” from which legends such as the late Stevie Ray Vaughan and Janis Joplin grew. Check out local papers the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American Statesman for upcoming entertainment options.
Keep your attendees downtown by booking accommodations in one of the urban core’s 5,500 amenity-filled hotel rooms – a number that’s expected to grow to 7,000 by 2010. This puts your group near the Austin Convention Center, with 900,000 square-feet of meeting space, including a 43,300-square-foot grand ballroom and two column-free exhibition halls.
El Paso takes you to the extreme western part of Texas, with dramatic landscapes and a definite Latino cast to its food and festivals. Military groups should plan to see Fort Bliss, the nation’s second largest army base. Religious groups can visit three of the oldest continuously active missions in the United States while in town. The adobe churches, called Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario, are part of the Mission Trail’s rich history dating back 400 years.
If you don’t plan to house your guests at the historic hotel Camino Real or host your event in one of its 19 meeting rooms, be sure to stop by to view the building’s splendid architecture. Established in 1912, this landmark in the heart of El Paso boasts an 80-year old Tiffany glass dome in its bar and spectacular grand staircase.
While El Paso itself may not be the largest city in Texas, two of its adjoining sister cities make it a formidable destination. The combination of El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM and Juarez, Mexico is the largest International Metroplex in the world. Visitors to El Paso can easily trek over to Juarez via one of four bridges. U.S. and Canadian citizens are not required to show papers when crossing the international boundary, provided they stay less than 72 hours and don’t travel beyond the 18-mile limit.
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Small But Coastal
If bustling city nights aren’t the environment you desire for your event, consider slowing things down a bit with a visit to the Gulf Coast region of Texas. Discover some 350 miles of beaches and lowlands, from Galveston to South Padre Island & the Rio Grande Valley.
Brownsville promotes itself as being “On the Border, by the Sea.” Situated on the Rio Grande River across from Matamoros, Mexico, many visitors to Brownsville cross the border for a day-trip of shopping in street markets replete with Mexican arts and handcrafts in leather, silver and textiles.
Two pristine beaches are just a half hour from this southernmost tip of Texas – South Padre Island and Boca Chica Beach. Enjoy some of the best bird-watching the U.S. has to offer at the Sabal Palm Audubon Sanctuary. Each February, Brownsville hosts an International Birding Festival to highlight the more than 500 species that have been spotted in the area.
Further up the coastline, you can book your meeting in Corpus Christi – Texas’ largest coastal city. While there, allow time for activities that take attendees out into the bay. Protected by Padre Island, the Corpus Christi bay and inland waterways provide ideal conditions for excellent sport fishing, sailing, windsurfing and jet-skiing. Excursions to the USS Lexington Museum (the most highly decorated aircraft carrier of World War II), the Texas State Aquarium and Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History will appeal to everyone, from educators and military enthusiasts to young and old.
Booking your event in Corpus Christi presents you with over 11,000 beautiful hotel and condo rooms from which to choose. Plus, with a view of the sparkling Corpus Christi waters, the city’s convention facilities offer a setting few other locations can match.
Or, if you think “historic splendor by the sea” would be an ideal setting for your next meeting, consider a jaunt even further up the coast to Galveston. One luxury option for your event location is the 30-acre beachfront San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center. This AAA Four-Diamond location offers a 40,000-square-foot conference center with sound-proof meeting rooms perfect for either intimate meetings or larger conventions.
Whatever your desires – be they coastal, cosmopolitan, or calming– Texas has the right size and style of venue to make that next meeting a bigger success than ever.
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5 More Convention Centers
- Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center provides nearly 1.2 million square feet of exhibition, meeting and registration space, in addition to a variety of wireless capabilities, conveniently located in downtown Houston. In addition to a headquarters hotel across the street, “The Brown” is flanked by the new Toyota Center arena and Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
- Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio provides 600,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting space, more than 440,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, 63 breakout rooms, three hotel-quality ballrooms totaling 90,000 square feet and the Lila Cockrell Theatre for the Performing Arts, which seats over 2,500.
- The Brownsville Events Center offers flexible, dividable space to satisfy the needs of various sized groups. Its main ballroom has 15,530 square feet to accommodate 940 people in banquet style with dance floor and stage. Or, the ballroom splits into five smaller rooms to host 133 attendees in classroom style or 205 in theater style. You’ll also find landscaped waterfront grounds for outdoor functions.
- Judson F. Williams Convention Center in El Paso was remodeled and expanded in 2002, offering 17 breakout meeting rooms, three halls, column-free exhibit space of 80,000 square feet and two lobbies – the Paso Del Norte Lobby with 13,000 square feet and Mt. Franklin Lobby with 23,300 square feet.
- The American Bank Center Convention Center in Corpus Christi features 76,500 square feet of accessible exhibit space in its main exhibit hall. Twenty-two separate breakout rooms, a 25,000-square-foot banquet hall and the 20,000-square-foot Bayview Ballroom are all conveniently contained within the complex. The facility was renovated in 2004.
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