Invest in a better convention center, get a better Dallas

Do you want a better Dallas? We need a competitive convention center.

The economic impact of the tourism industry and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center is critical to the quality of life of our residents. Revenue and taxes from this industry support vital urban services that improve our lives by paying for garbage collection, public safety, and more.

Convention center booking generated revenue of $ 858 million in 2018, according to Visit Dallas. The spending of travelers in our city goes a long way towards effectively paying for $ 1,221 worth of government services for every Dallas household. The preservation of our museums and entertainment venues is supported by the visitors who are attracted to congresses.

The city of Dallas recently demonstrated its commitment to welcoming travelers by investing billions in renovating Love Field and DFW International Airport while adding light rail to connect the airports to the convention center district. And with Dallas’s central location, it remains a unique and attractive destination for national conventions.

However, it has been around 15 years since the last major renovation of the convention center, and some buildings have not been touched since the 1970s. To counteract this, the city of Dallas is currently preparing a visionary master plan that will make the convention center the best convention center district in the United States.

Currently, the convention center does not have the appropriate mix and amount of ballroom, kitchen, and adjacent exhibition space to attract the largest events. As a result, Dallas is losing to other competitive convention centers and cities in the United States, such as McCormick Place in Chicago, the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, and the Las Vegas Convention Center, to name a few.

Our other cities in Texas, Houston and San Antonio, recently upgraded their convention centers extensively, increased their capacity significantly, and made them more attractive to groups booking large shows and conferences. If these trends continue, our city will struggle to remain a desirable convention destination.

We need to remodel the city’s convention center to make sure Dallas stays competitive. The master plan offers several options for expanding and renovating the congress center and the surrounding district, which will significantly drive growth in the region.

The master plan gives Dallas the chance to have one of the five largest convention centers in North America. Adding this capacity will be very tempting for business groups. Investing in the development of the convention center could bring about real change and not only create a new, modern convention center, but revitalize the entire area by generating billions in new tax revenues. From new transportation options to new business opportunities, the options are incredible.

One might ask, how is Dallas going to fund such a great project? The simple answer is through special hotel taxes. There are no city or district taxes. The income from all hotel tax options would cover the costs many times over. Economic recovery is the way to go as we have seen the aftermath of depressed activity in convention centers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From March 2020 to March 2021, Dallas lost 584 convention bookings, $ 1 billion in economic impact, and 13,000 jobs due to the impact of COVID-19 on the local economy and convention industry. With challenges like these, it’s important for Dallas to get back to the convention center and tourism. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center master plan is an important part of the solution to meet rising demand as business travel picks up again. The refurbishment of the convention center is estimated to result in over $ 6 billion in direct development spending on several sections of the project, creating thousands of jobs. This project would also give minority and women-owned companies a significant boost through the award of contracts.

Without the convention center refurbishment, the Dallas economy will suffer. As the pandemic has shown, we cannot afford such losses.

The economic strength of the new convention center would have massive benefits for at least a generation. We face a challenge, but if we face it with courage and innovation, Dallas can modernize its convention center, create new jobs and reinvigorate our cultural centers.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is a former US ambassador to NATO and a US senator.

Ron Kirk is a former US trade representative and former mayor of Dallas.

You wrote this column for the Dallas Morning News.

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