4 replies to this topic

[DrkLts]

Someone humor me, but I am puzzled about something
Ok, since like forever, I hear about how FW is not known outside of TX or that we are invisible due to the shadow of the big city to our immediate east, but if all that is true, and we are kinda unknown to most civilization, how the heck does FW pull in tourism? I mean we have a bureau for it and we have attrations, but how do these visitors come if no one knows we're here? I know these tourist exist because I like to read guestbooks at top tourism spots here in town and see people that come from Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, and also countries like Canada, France, Italy, and Australia.

Seriouly how do they find us? I wouldnt travel to a city unless I knew something about it. Was it by word-of-mouth? Whatever the reason, the world knows we exist. So the myth that FW is invisible must be over right? Speaking about myths, after I get this figured out, my next question will be about Bigfoot!

[safly]

It could be from incoming guests on business. You know you have a couple days of Rand R and you visit the new FW jewel, The Modern, touted daily by the FWCVB. Everyone that visits (business/pleasure) here will get notice of what "touristy" attractions to venture into. So, they could be here for business but end up enjoying it a little more. Another reason why is that FW is affordable and vast when coupled with the metroplex theme. So families get to travel and stay here a few days in the Summer and take in Dallas, the Wax Museum and Six Flags. FW is def. a retreat town, though not THE retreat town in my opinion.

Also, the cowboy theme plays a HUGE part in ropin in some Foreign tourist traffic. They absolutely can't get enough of that old Western appeal.

But still, let's be honest here. It will be sometime, not too long though, when FW pulls in Chicago, L.A., Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, LV, and NYC visitor numbers. Hopefully.

[DrkLts]

That makes sense, I guess while you're here on business, paint the town red huh? lol Aside tourism, I also know that every other person that lives or works in FW grew up outside FW. You would think a city that is largely ignored by everyone outside of TX is full of native citizens, but no...lots and lots of transplanted residents. Saf, your a transplant too right?
Again, visitors and half the population (i guess) of FW that were clueless about this city before they got here now know. Again, FW is NO secret. Thats how we are getting to be the fastest growing city. #19 on the top big cities....oh yeah the world knows about us

[Willy1]

Don't forget that the city to the east also draws in millions of visitors a year and is one of the states top tourist destinations. When people arrive in Dallas the discover that a lot of the great attractions - the good zoo, the good museums, the country western stuff - is all in some BIG SUBURB called Fort Worth. For those who come to Dallas from far away lands - like Europe and other places overseas - that's exactly what they think when they hear about Fort Worth - that big suburb to the west of Dallas.

There are also a lot of Americans outside Texas who have never heard of FW... believe it or not. Of course, these are typically younger, less educated people who have never been to Texas or really out of their region of the country (translation: dumb yankees. LOL)

A great place to find peple who have never heard of FW --- telephone call centers that employee people in places far away. The last time I talked to the "customer care" line for my cell phone and the last time I called the help line for my dish, neither of the people had ever heard of FW. Also, many times credit card customer service people have never heard of FW. I always make it a point to ask where they are, what the weather is like there, etc. (They give better assistance if they feel you care about them somehow) Inevitably they ask me the same things in return - and most a lot of time they've never heard of FW, or they say "OH, I've always wanted to visit Dallas" They're always shocked to hear that FW is not a suburb of Dallas and that it's one of the largest cities in the country - their country I might add! sigh.

I guess it's just a great thing that we have that wonderful joint ad campaign going with Dallas.... That will really tell the world that we're here and put FW on the map once and for all.

P.S. - Multigenerational native Ft Worthian here.

[safly]

That makes sense, I guess while you're here on business, paint the town red huh? lol Aside tourism, I also know that every other person that lives or works in FW grew up outside FW. You would think a city that is largely ignored by everyone outside of TX is full of native citizens, but no...lots and lots of transplanted residents. Saf, your a transplant too right?
Again, visitors and half the population (i guess) of FW that were clueless about this city before they got here now know. Again, FW is NO secret. Thats how we are getting to be the fastest growing city. #19 on the top big cities....oh yeah the world knows about us 

Why yes I am, but I am not the one(s) writing down the "where ya from?" info down at any local attractions. I am from another town and transplanted here much like many other people here from another town. There are plenty of other nearby towns that have quite a number of t-plants too I might add. But with transplants, there are no gaurantees that they will stay for even as long as you have DL. Thus dropping a #19 city to a #25 EASILY. My reason for steppin foot in FW for the very first time in my Texan life was because of work related. Of my 20+ prior years living in Texas, my family and I never stepped foot in FW, and I probably would not have packed all my things up in CA to visit and stay here in abscence of my main reason for transplanting. I had to have an L.A. AF Officer friend (from FW) of sorts explain to me what and where FW is in relation to Dallas prior to THE MOVE. Even with all the changes FW has seen in the past 10 years, just my honest opinion. And making great friends here weighs in on any leaving FW decisions to be made.

Just curious, what are the retiree numbers here in FW? Noteworthy growth? S.Antonio has been riding high on that "retiree wave" for some time now and is still anticipating high growth in that market appeal. This appeal has certainly launched SA into a top 10 city, back from it's top 20 days

So keep in mind that the FW visitors "scene" could for the most part be comprised of on business visitors who travel, dine, or do business in their mind in Dallas. Which could mean to us as Plano, G-vine, Arlington, Fort Worth, Las Colinas-Irving, Trophy Club, "Perotville", or any other metroplex city/town. So the MENTALITY is still largely Dallas engrained. I rarely hear about the typical family vacations being targeted solely for FW fun, unless visiting family. This metroplex is far too vast and diverse to just concentrate on FW FUN. The #1 instance where FW truly seperates itslef from the rest of the Metroplex is in the Historic Stockyards District. IMHO. Symphony related first/second, Modern third, FWConventions fourth, and TCU (related) fifth.

To get back toy your main gripe, the FW hidden factor is still just that, a factor. And Dallas just holds the cloak over us when and where it wants to when it comes to outside exposure. We are Newark, NJ to a New York, W. Memphis, AR to a Memphis, TN, and so forth. Myth or not, you can't really say that the job is being done when you see a few sig's at a local joint in town from out of towners spanning the globe. Who knows they may have had a flight cancellation/ layover at DFW while departing a Dallas business trip or vacation. So many possibilities out there that would render this post useless.