Corporate Upper Class
Tourism in Houston increased to 31 million people in 2004 from 20 million people in 1999. In 2004, Houston hosted two of the largest national sporting events, the 2004 NFL Super Bowl and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
In less than five years, Houston built three new professional sports facilities, a mass-transit rail system and seven downtown hotels. Over the same five years, Downtown Houston hotels welcomed 11 million more tourists. The chief executive officer and president at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jordi Tollett, says when the bureau announced Houston could host an NFL Super Bowl and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the city had to create a game plan of its own.
“When those things became known to our community in about 1999, everybody said Jan. 1 of 2004 had to be the deadline for whatever we were going to do to receive that world attention,” said Tollett.
Houston had a new NFL franchise and stadium. The new owner, Bob Mcnair, paid a record $700 million to bring the Texans to the city. Tollett says the owner of the Houston Astros, Drayton McLane, and the owner of the Houston Rockets, Comets and Aeros, Les Alexander, both wanted new facilities for their teams.
“When you get into that and you get into owners, all of the owners want new facilities,” said Tollett. “Unlike a lot of cities that might build one or two over a 10 to 15 year period, we built all three in a five-year period.”
Voters approved stadium deals that paid $250 million for the Minute Maid Baseball Park and $200 million for the Toyota Basketball Center. Together with the Reliant Football Stadium, taxpayers will end up paying close to 1.2 billion dollars for the three sports facilities. Tollett says Houston, a city known for having its traffic jams, had to do something to accommodate the out-of-town tourists at nearby hotels.
The number of tourist visitors has grown steadily since the building projects were launched. Fewer than 21 million came in 1999. That number increased to more than 24 million in 2000. It rose to nearly 28 million in 2002 and nearly 28 million in 2003. The greatest jump came in 2004 when the city welcomed 31 million tourists. So, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau set its goal on a rail system.
“Because Houston’s so spread out, we decided to build a seven and a half mile rail line to connect the downtown area to the Medical Center to the Reliant area," said Tollett.
With Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center and Metrorail running near all three stadia, the game plan was to lure the who’s who of sports to Houston. Tollett had to draw up a new drill in his playbook.
“There was focus on finishing the Hilton on time because the NFL had used a new hotel like that that two times previously,” said Tollett. “They were disasters in San Diego and Tampa.”
One hotel opened nine months before the game, and one opened a year and two months before the game. The Hilton opened 45 days prior to kickoff in Houston.
Additional hotels have opened since then. The Inn at the Ballpark, Magnolia Hotel, Hotel Icon, Marriott Courtyard and Marriott Residence Inn, Holiday Inn Express, the Aldon, and the Crown Plaza all opened a month prior to the Super Bowl.
By the beginning of 2004, there were 5,000 hotel rooms in Downtown Houston--twice as many as there were in 2001. The general manager of Inn at the Ballpark, located on Texas Avenue, says the January 2004 grand opening was just that.
“So we opened and three weeks later we were completely sold out with the Super Bowl, and it was incredible," said Chris Ziadie, general manager of the Inn at the Ballpark.
The 12-story luxury hotel sold out its 201 guest rooms, suites, and executive level more times during the Houston Astros season than in the rest of 2004.
The 2004 All-Star Game and the National League Championship Series both played at Minute Maid Park were two reasons for the peak in business.
“That’s our clientele," said Ziadie. "Baseball has been great to us. That’s our season from April through, hopefully, October. So that means we are in the playoffs and possibly the World Series.”
This year, the Astros made it to the World Series for the first time in their franchise history, and the Inn at the Ballpark welcomed baseball fans from all over the country.
“It was packed in here," said Ziadie. " It’s become a great place to meet before and after the game. The lobby area is very warm and inviting and it’s just a great atmosphere for baseball fans.”
However, Ziadie says the Inn is not just about baseball.
“We’ve got something for everybody in this hotel with the meeting space that we have,” said Ziadie. “We love basketball fans as well.”
More than 60,000 basketball fans from China to New York to Miami to Los Angeles are expected to make their way to Houston in 2006 when the NBA All-Star Game is played in Houston for the first time since 1989. The NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 19 at the Toyota Center.
“The all-star game is probably the biggest, most exciting thing we got happening," said Aurelia Silva, human resources coordinator for Toyota Center.
The NBA All-Star Game is expected to generate nearly $80 million in additional revenue for the city.
“I understand that’s going to bring millions of dollars into the city,” said Silva. "And we’ll bring a lot of new people that have never been to Texas, much less Houston, and kind of give them an idea of what’s down here.”
The festivities that led up to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game will again precede the NBA All-Star Game with a weeklong celebration in Downtown Houston.
"There will be the NBA Jam Session, which will be right next door at the George R. Brown," said Silva. “Everyday that will draw a huge crowd of people. There’s the slam-dunk contest. I believe there’s a rookie game on Friday night.”
Houston’s Main Street will also put on a party as it welcomes the NBA and its fans.
“All of the restaurants and clubs in that area are getting bookings of entertainers or past players or corporations,” said Tollett. "That CEO gets a taste of your town, and that’s what we want them to do. We want them to experience Houston.”
With four major professional sporting events in Houston in just two years, Houston is on the map as one of America’s best sports cities.
© Copyright World Internet News 2006-07
Top of Page
|
