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Located between Dallas and Fort Worth (each about 30 minutes away), the city is part of the “DFW metroplex,” and also known as the “Home of the Cowboys,” as in football team. And home of the Texas Rangers baseball franchise too. The former offers popular tours of state-of-the-art AT&T Stadium (photo), while Globe Life Field is a great place to catch a ball game. The original Six Flags also calls Arlington home. Scott Poland, director of tourism development, explains that Arlington is a great hub-and-spoke destination for the area (plus it’s only 10 minutes from DFW airport) and all major hotels offer a trolley service to attractions for guests. An 888-room Loews hotel is on the horizon for 2024.

AUSTIN
Austin may be state capital, but Canadians will be more interested it’s the city’s status as “Live Music Capital of the World,” with no shortage of places to experience different styles of music (including at concerts performed for the legendary TV show “Austin City Limits”). Also new on the scene is Moody Centre, a state-of-the-art 15,000-seat performance venue, and Armadillo Den, a two-storey neighbourhood bar and entertainment destination that spans 1.2 hectares and boasts two bars, indoor stage, outdoor entertainment area, and fare from Austin food trucks. Live music is featured seven nights a week. In addition to existing non-stop service from Toronto, Air Canada has just launched service from Vancouver four times a week.

CONROE

A northern suburb of (and great base for) Houston, Conroe is a “charming old Texas town,” located just off the I95, according to Visit Conroe director Shannon Overby. With a revitalized historic downtown that boasts an iconic courthouse and public square, there is plenty of shopping, craft breweries, and music. It’s also bordered by Lake Conroe and national and state forests, presenting endless opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, on land or water. The fastest-growing city in Texas will welcome a Margaritaville resort this month (June).

DALLAS

A prime example of a Texas destination that belies the image of cattle and cowboys, Dallas is home to the largest arts district in the US, prompting Visit Dallas sr. director of tourism Lilliana Riviera to observe, “That’s the biggest surprise – you don’t expect Dallas to be an arts city!” But there’s also sports (the Cowboys, Rangers, and Stars), live music in Deep Ellum, barbecue (Terry Black’s BBQ), three microbreweries, JFK (assassination) tours, a symphony, and many other cultural institutions. And if you’re still muddling “who shot JR,” the “Dallas” TV show’s Southfork ranch can be visited 45 minutes away.

EL PASO

Where to start in El Paso? “It’s more urban than you’d expect,” says Destination El Paso’s Trinity Smith, but also a gateway to Big Bend country and a host of outdoor activities. The city of a million people is on the Mexican and New Mexican borders, adjacent to colourful Juarez in the former and close to renowned White Sands National Park in the latter. Known as the “Boot Capital of the World,” there is plenty of western culture to be found, including connections to Billy the Kidd and other gunslingers (buried at Concordia Cemetery). There’s also a mountain within the city limits and Hueco Tanks State Park, known for its bouldering (plus hiking, biking etc.) Where to stop about El Paso?

FORT WORTH

The other bookend of the DFW metro area, Fort Worth is America’s 12th largest city but feels smaller, thanks in part to its walkable downtown. Dubbed “the modern west,” it’s a destination full of history and characters, particularly in the Stockyards National District (photo), where real cowboys conduct a twice-daily cattle drive and visitors can see rodeo year-round (Fridays and Saturdays), shop for western wear, savour traditional Texas fare, and listen to country music. The National Cowgirl Hall of Fame adds to the vibe, as does Billy Bob’s Texas entertainment, food, and concert complex, which calls itself “the world’s largest honky tonk.”

But Forth Worth also has five world-class museums, an arts district, and the Trinity River Trails, for hiking, cycling, horseback riding and water activities, right in the city. Director of Tourism Estella Martinez-Stuart touts the ale trail with 19 craft breweries, and the unique Whiskey Ranch distillery. But, “If you want the real Texas,” she admits, “come here.”

FREDERICKSBURG

“A lot of people haven’t heard of us, but we’re quintessential small-town America,” says Karen Mayo, director of tourism at the CVB. And while Mayo certainly isn’t wrong, her town also wears its founding by German immigrants proudly, with multiple ethnic restaurants and beer gardens sprinkled along the 10-block-long main drag. Located in Texas hill country, about an hour’s drive north of San Antonio (and about the same distance west of Austin) Fredericksburg is also in the heart of wine country, boasting over 50 local wineries, some of which offer tours and/or tasting shops on Main Street. Out of town there’s hiking and renowned wildflowers, while back in town there’s an excellent, if unexpected, Smithsonian Museum of the Pacific War. In sum, it is said that Fredericksburg has a “Texas heart and German soul.”

GALVESTON

Exuding a vibe more reminiscent of Charleston or Savannah than typical Texas, Galveston is a great getaway for a couple of days, or day trip from nearby Houston for shopping or the beach. (Stop at NASA’s Space Centre Houston on the way). It’s also a notable cruise gateway. Visitors will discover a fresh-look Historic Seaport that includes Ship Shore, a new interactive attraction that allows visitors to follow in the footsteps of early immigrants who travelled to Galveston in the 1880s.

GRAPEVINE

Another town – with its own unique personality – that’s part the Dallas-Fort Worth metro region. Close to Arlington and the airport, Grapevine might be where you stay, with 20 hotels in town, including the Gaylord Texan Resort and a Great Wolf Lodge. “We’re a great hub,” says Heather Egan, Grapevine CVB’s director of leisure and international sales. Not surprisingly, Egan says the town is “all about wine” and boasts an urban wine trail. Other attributes: a historic main street, claims of being the “Christmas Capital of Texas,” a great live music scene, artisan shopping, restaurants and cafés, and a vintage excursion train to the Fort Worth Stockyards. And after exploring the DFW area, the town, Egan says, is simply “a great place to end the day.”

HOUSTON

Visit Houston’s Celia Morales says her city – fourth largest in the US – is also the most diverse, including, for example, more than 10,000 restaurants serving cuisine from around the globe. Close to the Gulf of Mexico, the city is also home to an amazing cultural district with 18 museums. There’s also the Houston Zoo, Space Center Houston, award-winning performing arts groups, professional sports teams, and more than 12 shopping districts throughout the city. A tapestry of culture, Houston’s diversity is celebrated throughout the city in the arts, culture, and gastronomy.

LUBBOCK

Located in the West Texas “panhandle” about a five-hour drive west of Dallas, revitalized Lubbock boasts new hotels, an eclectic food and beverage scene (including craft breweries), and a growing cultural and entertainment community. The latter is centred on The Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, named after the rock and roll pioneer and city’s favourite son. Broadway productions like “Hamilton” and “Dear Evan Hansen” will take the stage during the 2022-23 season in the 2,300-seat main theatre, along with dance, comedy, and concerts in the Holly Hall.

SAN ANGELO

“A little oasis in West Texas,” unique San Angelo is not a city you would see anywhere else in the state, says the CVB’S sales manager Suzanna Valezuela. A mix of arts and culture, with a diversity ranging from symphony to C&W music, San Angelo’s treasures include artistic alleys, historic murals, internationally acclaimed waterlilies, and Concho pearls from freshwater mussels.

SAN ANTONIO

This south Texas city is known for The Alamo (it’s called “The Alamo City” after all), which is smack dab in the centre of town and a must-see stop for photos (see banner photo) of the famous white church, as well as with a bronze statue of Davey Crockett. But there are five UNESCO Spanish missions in total around San Antonio, which tell the story of the origins of the city and the state of Texas, of which the Mexican siege of The Alamo in 1836, of course, was an integral contributor.

But San Antonio’s best feature is River Walk, an amazing, 25-km long leafy path, that winds its way along the banks of the San Antonio past hotels and neighbourhoods and is adorned with clever art displays. The exception to the serenity is in the central bar/restaurant area, the modern mecca of the city. Boasting a distinct Mexican flavour (it’s two hours from the border), including its own annual fiesta, San Antonio also has its own SeaWorld on the outskirts, plus the incredible Natural Bridge Caverns, the state’s largest network of caves (with requisite rides and ziplines).

First published at Travel Industry Today

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

New York City is welcoming tourists. Broadway is open. Restaurants are open. Museums are open, and as for people ‘masking’ – New York is very similar to Toronto in the sense that many people are still mindful about wearing masks, and while most people still tend to wear a mask indoors, and in restaurants, many places leave the choice of a mask to the individual.

We recently had an opportunity for a conversation with Reginald Charlot, Managing Director, Tourism Market Development for NYC & Company and naturally the subject was tourism and how it’s doing now that we are in sort-of-semi-post-pandemic. Tourists? We asked, “Yes,” he said, “Here they come!”

And New York is welcoming them. “We need them. They help our economy, they help with jobs, so we really need them to come back in. A lot of people appreciate and understand the value of visitors coming into New York City, because of what they can do, what they spend, and everything else.”

There are of course, certain venues that do require masks. Broadway shows, for example and public transport. Masks are mandatory at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA ) where proof of vaccination is also needed.

“So, even though restrictions have been lifted, protocols are still in place,” said Charlot, “and that gives people that sense of comfort knowing that they can come into the city, wear a mask, and not feel uncomfortable about it.”

Canadians are heading for NYC

While obviously the numbers went drastically down, they are coming back, slowly but surely, with NYC forecasting potentially about 700,000 Canadians by the end of this year.

Air Canada, WestJet, Porter all have multiple direct flights right now after some cutbacks during the pandemic. The flights are full. They’re running every day, back and forth, multiple times and this spring they will be joined by Swoop.

Additionally, of course, there are the US domestic carriers – Delta, United, and American that have regular flights to the city.

“It’s all just working super, super well. So we’re very excited,” said Charlot. “We’re really looking forward to having Canadians come back into the city and just revisiting it.”

The duration of the stay varies, says Charlot. It could be a long weekend or a week to 10 days, depending on the interests of the individual.

But the tendency now is for a longer stay. Instead of coming to New York City for a quick three-day visit, visitors are now extending the trip to five or seven days just to be able to reintroduce themselves to the city, to take in things they may have missed on previous quick trips.

Charlot explains that, for example, you may perhaps have visited the “Empire State Building eight million times, but you may have not realized this cafe on the corner, or this new museum Fotografiska that’s a few blocks down from Empire State Building. You realize you have three more days to visit the city as opposed to just two. So, that’s really kind of been a good battle cry, a good call for a lot of visitors coming into New York City.”

Not quite business (travel) as usual

He acknowledges that business travel is not where it was pre-pandemic. “It’s a much slower process because so many people are still doing video conferencing or having that type of meeting. Or, if they are travelling, it’s a much smaller meeting or a smaller business trip, so it’s going to take a little bit more time. There is a much slower process in regards to visitors coming on the business side, but they are coming, if not as quickly as on the leisure side, but there is the potential.”

A lot of people are taking advantage of working remotely, he believes, noting that there’s definitely a big increase in people staying Monday to Thursday and avoiding weekend prices. And working remotely and exploring the city when it’s a little bit less busy – getting that local feel. New York is actually seeing an increase in people visiting midweek rather than Friday to Sunday.

Still some challenges

Like any large city that has their post-lockdown challenges with occasional acts of random violence, New York is no different says Charlot, from Toronto, Montreal, Paris, or London. But people are still taking the subways, and they are, as they should be, mindful of their surroundings.

As with many destinations – hotel prices are up.

“However, people are paying – because they have had two years of being able to put all those lovely points in their pockets and purses, and now they’re able to spend, so a lot of hotels are maintaining their rates. Some have increased their rates a little bit, as well.

“It’s actually advantageous for everyone to be able to stay at the hotel that they’ve wanted to stay at for years and say, ‘Well, now I have the money, I can stay there’ and not be concerned about the pricing as much. And the hotels are now getting customers to come in and book up their hotels. So, it’s a win-win on both sides.”

Like everywhere else New York City experienced its share of closures.

“Everybody was hard-hit. Hotels were closed. Restaurants were closed. Cafes, mom-and-pop shops were closed. Some bigger stores also just closed up.” Said Charlot, “but as with anything, a lot of people have said ‘it’s the time to buy in again.’ So, some people were able to resuscitate their business, resuscitate their restaurant, hotel, because things were so much cheaper. And people were able to get investors, ironically enough, at the time to kind of help rebuild. So that’s why things are coming back in a different way.”

Like many other places there are some shortages of service personnel, but says Charlot, “Living in New York City, nothing’s really changed for us, from our perspective, going to the restaurants and cafes and bars – I don’t see anything that really changed.”

For New Yorkers, “even with the two-year gap where nobody went out, and then you come back to the world where it’s back to normal in essence, I’m seeing it as, “Oh, okay, well nothing’s really skipped a beat.” There may be an off-chance that instead of having three bartenders you have two, so the wait’s going to be a little bit longer, but people are being patient.”

Happy to be out

All of the annual events are starting. The Five Boro Bike Ride took place in May, Tribeca Film Festival’s coming up this month as is the Pride Parade. There’s going to be the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks again and The US Open is coming. Also, Restaurant Week will celebrate its 30th anniversary in July with restaurants offering discounts.

“Let’s be clear,” says Charlot, “The reality is that most people understand that there are shortages. There are certain things that aren’t the way they were before. But overall, I think people are just happy to get out, to be out and about and kind of engage and see people and do things and feel like it was in 2019. And a lot of that is happening again in New York City.”

https://business.nycgo.com/

First published at Travel Industry Today

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News