Take a 360° Tour

Take a 360° Tour
Annual Meeting Report

FORT WORTH: THE UNEXPECTED CITY 
 

Fast Facts 

  • 12th largest city in the United States, larger than San Francisco, Boston and Nashville  

  • The 2nd fastest growing city in the U.S. 

  • Population: 958,692 

  • Settled in 1849 as an army outpost on the Trinity River 

  • One of the youngest cities in Texas – median age of 33.2 years 

  • Only 20 minutes from DFW International Airport 

  • Less than a 4-hour flight from LA, Chicago, NYC, Mexico City and Toronto 

 

Reasons to Visit 

  • Top 50 place to visit in the U.S. (Travel + Leisure, 2024) 

  • Fort Worth Botanic Garden selected one of the South’s most beautiful gardens (Southern Living, 2024) 

  • Top LGBTQ+ Friendly Destinations (Forbes, 2022) 

  • Fort Worth Zoo ranked #2 zoo in America (USA Today, 2021) 

  • 25 Best Places for Young Professionals (U.S. News & World Report, 2020) 

  • 23rd Most Diverse Cities in America 

 

Top 5 Tourist Attractions 

  • Stockyards National Historic District features Fort Worth’s western heritage, including the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive and a year-round rodeo. Mule Alley is a carefully curated collection of restaurants, venues and heritage brands, reviving 108-year-old original mule barns into an iconic destination. It is anchored by Hotel Drover, a Marriott Autograph Collection resort, and features upscale shopping, live music venues and local restaurants. 

  • Five world-class museums designed by renowned architects line the park-like setting of the Cultural District. The Kimbell Art Museum is home to the only Michelangelo in the Americas, his first painting, The Torment of Saint Anthony. The Modern Art Museum was recognized as the best-designed building in Texas by Architectural Digest. 

  • The top-rated Fort Worth Zoo opened in 1909, making it the first zoo in Texas. It was ranked the No. 2 zoo in the nation by USA Today in 2021. 

  • Vibrant, walkable Downtown Fort Worth features Sundance Square Plaza, Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth Convention Center, the Fort Worth Water Gardens, JFK Memorial and statue, Burnett Park, and tons of restaurants, bars and venues for a dazzling nightlife. 

  • Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest honky-tonk, features 120,000 square feet of entertainment space, 30 bar stations, a dance floor perfect for two-stepping and performances from country music’s biggest and emerging stars. 

 

Tourism 

  • Number of out-of-town visitors to Fort Worth in 2023: 11 million 

  • Total hotel rooms: 13,477, with 2,622 downtown 

  • The Fort Worth culinary scene blends the flavors of contemporary western fare, fine dining and diverse styles.  

  • Don Artemio was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant: Texas 2023.  

  • Goldee’s BBQ was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas.  

  • Goldee’s was ranked the #1 BBQ joint in Texas by Texas Monthly. 

  • Home to #1 and #5 hotels in DFW, the Hotel Drover and Ashton Hotel (Travel & Leisure, 2022). 

 

Film 

  • Fort Worth was ranked among the Top Places to Live and Work as a Filmmaker by MovieMaker Magazine (2021). 

  • Paramount+ hit series 1883, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, and upcoming Landman were filmed in Fort Worth. 

  • The annual Lone Star Film Festival is a premier destination for filmmakers, producers, industry professionals and film enthusiasts. 

  • The Fort Worth Film Collaborative is a film workforce development certification program to address the growing need for trained film industry crew in the greater Fort Worth area. The Fort Worth Film Commission and Tarrant County College, in partnership with 101 Studios production company and local film industry experts, developed a curriculum to provide students with a pathway to employment in the film industry. It is the first of its kind in Texas, fostering local talent and building a robust film workforce in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. 

 

Music 

  • Fort Worth has dozens of live music venues ranging from the expansive (Dickies Arena and Panther Island Pavilion) to the more intimate (Tulips FTW and Scat Jazz Lounge). 

  • Dickies Arena is a premier concert venue, sporting event venue and home of the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. In addition to hosting world-famous musicians and athletes, its multi-functional facility can accommodate conventions, exhibit events, business meetings and private receptions. Dickies Arena was voted number one venue of its kind in the world by Billboard Magazine in 2024. 

  • The Fort Worth Music Festival & Conference is a music festival and networking conference for aspiring agents, managers, promoters and emerging Texas-based artists. 

  • Fort Worth was designated the first music-friendly city in Texas by the Texas Music Office in the Office of the Governor in 2017. 

  • Leon Bridges, Van Cliburn, Townes Van Zandt and T-Bone Burnett all call Fort Worth home. They are the leaders of a growing music renaissance taking place in the city. 

 

Sports 

  • Fort Worth was named the #1 city for hosting sporting events in the ‘cities without a big 5 team’ category by Sports Business Journal in 2024.  

  • The city hosts some of the most elite athletic competitions in the nation: the AAC basketball champions, NCAA National Women’s Gymnastics Championships and Professional Bull Riding World Finals elimination events, to name a few. 

  • Home to the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, Professional Bull Riding team the Fort Worth Rattlers, the National Cutting Horse Association, Fort Worth Brahmas hockey team and Panther City Lacrosse Club. 

  • Top venues for sporting events: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth Convention Center, Cowtown Coliseum 

 

Education 

  • Fort Worth is home to several higher education organizations: Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, University of North Texas Health Science Center and Tarrant County College. 

 

Meetings and Conventions 

 

Fort Worth Convention Center 

  • In the heart of downtown, a short walk to restaurants, bars, hotels and venues. 

  • 58,849 square feet of flexible meeting space, including a 28,160 square foot ballroom and 38 breakout rooms 

  • 55,000 square foot Events Plaza that connects to the Fort Worth Water Gardens 

 

Will Rogers Memorial Center 

  • 100,000 square feet of exhibit space 

  • 5,652-seat coliseum 

  • State of the art equestrian multi-purpose building featuring 1,100 premium stalls 

 

Cowtown Coliseum 

  • First ever indoor arena for rodeos in the US 

  • 2,300-seat arena located in Stockyards National Historic District 

 

Dickies Arena 

  • 14,000-seat arena 

  • 28,915 square foot event floor 

  • Suites, clubs and loge boxes 

 

Top New Projects 

  • $300 million expansion of Fort Worth Convention Center (2025)  

  • $70 million development of the National Juneteenth Museum in the city’s Historic Southside neighborhood 

  • $1.5 billion Texas A&M tier-1 research campus and law school development in Downtown Fort Worth 

  • $225 million+ on restoration and expansion of the Stockyards National Historic District 

 

Business  

Fort Worth has six major industry clusters: Advanced Energy (oil/gas), Aviation/Aerospace, Financial Services, Hospitality and Tourism, Health Care/Life Sciences, Manufacturing. 

 

Corporations that make their home in Fort Worth: 

  • American Airlines Corporate HQ 
  • ​BNSF 
  • Ben E. Keith 
  • Justin Brands 
  • Lockheed Martin