FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jessica Christopherson
Visit Fort Worth
Vice President of Marketing & Film Commissioner
JessicaChristopherson@FortWorth.com

 

Visit Fort Worth Touts Tourism Impact at Annual Meeting

Visitor Economy Delivers $2.6 Billion Impact.
Stockyards Heritage Development Co. honored.

 

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (February 17, 2022) – Tourism to Fort Worth showed strong results in 2021, including 28,000 hospitality jobs, according to results announced at Visit Fort Worth’s Annual Meeting presented by Pinnacle Bank. Held today at the Fort Worth Convention Center, the event featured a keynote by famed hotelier Liz Lambert and honors for Stockyards Heritage. 

Big Impact 

Fort Worth welcomed 9.4 million visitors that equated to 2.4 billion in local economic impact, according to the fiscal year 2021 study by Tourism Economics. Visitor spending is up 25% from 2020 and residents gave an 82% approval rating for tourism in Fort Worth.

Led by the Fort Worth Sports Commission, sports tourism in Fort Worth generated $100,000,000 in local economic impact in 2021 hosting big events like Bassmasters and National Finals Rodeo.

The Fort Worth Film Commission helped support $300,000,000 in local economic impact and created 17,000 jobs from 2015-2021. Highlights included the world-premiere of 12 Mighty Orphans, The Senior, Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan’s 1883.

Hospitality Award 

Stockyards Heritage Development Co. was honored with Visit Fort Worth’s annual Hospitality Award. Each year an organization with a big vision to make Fort Worth even more welcoming to visitors is honored. The award is a sculpture commemorating the legendary Amon Carter’s tradition of extending a hat to his guests. 

Click here to watch the tribute video featuring Craig Cavalier, managing partner of Stockyards Heritage Development Co., which created Hotel Drover and the new Mule Alley.

Beyond Award 

The Beyond Award is presented to an individual in the hospitality industry who goes above and beyond. This year’s award was presented to Claude Humphrey, Field Operations Supervisor for Will Rogers Memorial Center. Humphrey has more than 24 years of service at Will Rogers and was instrumental in equestrian show recovery during COVID. See photos here.

Power of Collaboration 

The event unveiled a new music video featuring a collaboration between Cliburn pianist Daniel Hsu and Fort Worth musicians Lou CharLe$ and Averi Burk. Created for the 2022 Cliburn International Piano Competition, the music video showcases the power of collaboration in Fort Worth. Click here to watch the video. 

Keynote Speaker 

Keynote speaker and famed hotelier Liz Lambert shared stories about her journey with hotels and neighborhoods as well as some new projects ahead. See photos here.

Other Highlights  

  • The Fort Worth Botanic Garden will debut a million-dollar attraction called Lightscape Holiday Lights to the Cultural District in November 2022.
  • In July, Fort Worth will welcome more than 1,200 competitors to downtown for the U.S.A. Table Tennis Championships. 
  • 20% of Fort Worth visitors said they heard about the city on a feature film or TV show such as 12 Mighty Orphans and 1883, according to a survey of Texas travelers.