VisitDallas Celebrates Record Year, Announces 2020 Board Of Directors
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Today VisitDallas celebrated a year of accomplishments at its Annual Meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, announcing record visitation, booking, and economic impact figures. The organization also announced its 2020 Board of Directors, comprised of 21 diverse and strategic community and business leaders.
Last year 27.7 million people visited Dallas, spending $5.2 billion and generating a total economic impact of $8.8 billion, cementing the city’s status as the No. 1 visitor destination in Texas. The travel and tourism industry continues to be an important and necessary driver of the Dallas economy. VisitDallas booked 1,715 meetings and events last year, including 23 citywide events. In all, the team booked 2.64 million hotel room nights, which generated $2.2 billion in economic impact.
“As an industry, tourism is the eighth-largest employer in Dallas, and we take that very seriously. I couldn’t be more proud of our role in creating a thriving and hospitable tourism industry,” said Sam Coats, Interim President and CEO of VisitDallas. “We’ve had a great year, and all of these successes – including being ranked the No. 5 top meeting and events destination in the nation – are due to the hard work and dedication of the people of VisitDallas and the greater hospitality community. We are all VisitDallas.”
Tourism supports 65,000 jobs in Dallas and generated $607.9 million in local and state tax revenue last year alone, offsetting Dallas residents’ taxes by about $1,221 per household.”
During Tuesday’s meeting VisitDallas announced a new Board of Directors comprised of 21 individuals led by chair Joyce Williams, Associate Vice Chancellor of Workforce & Community Initiatives for Dallas County Community College District.
The board will include two mayoral appointees, six members of the Hotel Association of North Texas, two members from local chambers of commerce, one representative of the cultural arts community, five members from special interest groups and five members from the general business community.
“The Board of Directors will play an important role in the success of this organization,” said Williams. “It will help guide the vision for VisitDallas and work to help our convention and tourism business grow today and strengthen our foundation for sustainable growth in the future.”
The VisitDallas 2020 Board of Directors
Dave Brown, American Airlines Center
Carolyn Dent, Omni Dallas Hotel
Robbie Douglas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Tony Flores, Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Jennifer Gates, City of Dallas
Scott Goldstein, Dallas Regional Chamber
Mary Pat Higgins, Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
Anant Jain, United Solution Associates, Inc.
Steve Kemble, Steve Kemble Event Design
Michael Koffler, Hyatt Regency Dallas
Traci Mayer, Hotel Association of North Texas
Adam Medrano, City of Dallas
Maria Mendez, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
Kyle Noonan, FreeRange Concepts
Carrie F. Parsons, Freeman
James Smith, FC Dallas Soccer, LLC
Robert Watson, Hilton Anatole Hotel
Greg White, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District
Joyce Williams, Dallas County Community College District (Board Chair)
Mark Woelffer, Sheraton Dallas Hotel
Representative from Southwest Airlines
Please see the full VisitDallas 2019 Annual Report here.