OKC as tourist destination

[Praedura]

Came across this article:

Oklahoma City Caters to National Groups with Great Accessibility & Dragon Boat Races - Prevue

Robin O'Connor of the CVB plugs hard for OKC, making the case for groups to make a visit to our fair city.

I couldn't find a thread dedicated solely to this topic (though it gets mentioned frequently as an aside in other threads). So perhaps it deserves its own.

So how well is OKC doing in luring visitors here? What are the major attractions & points of interest? (O'Connor hits on most of them -- did she leave anything out?)
What more could be done to get outsiders to visit (and spend money) in OKC?

[Plutonic Panda]

KD Restaurant is high-end? o_O

[Praedura]

KD Restaurant is high-end? o_O

That was a bizarre statement, no doubt. It's not high-end, low-end, or any-end right now as the damn thing hasn't even been built yet. I guess she felt the need to throw out the name of probably the most famous person associated with OKC at the moment. She was in marketing overdrive, heh.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes, and I also wonder what she mean't by this

How far from the airport?

The Will Rogers World Airport is 8-miles away from the Cox Convention Center. Everything is all in one place. It’s walking distance from the airport and the Colcord Hotel and most other attractions are 15-minutes driving distance.

. . .
Maybe I read this wrong, but it sounded like she said the airport is within walking distance from the convention center??? lol.

[Praedura]

Yes, and I also wonder what she mean't by this . . .
Maybe I read this wrong, but it sounded like she said everything the airport is within walking distance from the convention center??? lol.

Yeah, I noticed that too. Did a headscratch on that one. My first thought was that was some kind of editing problem or typo. But maybe O'Conner really said that. Dunno.

[Praedura]

Despite the above mentioned weirdness, it was a pretty good read. O'Conner made a few good points.

Oklahoma City is a highly accessible, affordable destination with new restaurants, hotels and a surprising array of special event venues.
There are 22 direct inbound flights from 19 cities, which is perfect for national groups seeking a central location.

I didn't know that number: 19 cities with direct flights to OKC. That's interesting.

She also said that the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) was quite busy with lots of interest in OKC from various groups, so that's good to hear.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes, I thought it was a very nice article overall. I especially like the picture of the Devon Boathouse.

[adaniel]

A friend of mine is a managing partner in one of the Meridian Avenue hotels.

Their business has been steadily increasing over the past 7 years, save for a blip during the economic madness in 2008-09. A lot of people visit OKC from Amarillo and Wichita and make weekend trips out of it. Wichita is really considered a growth market for them; supposedly they has a ton of rabid Thunder fans.

I can definitely see OKC establishing itself as a regional destination, if it has not already.

[ljbab728]

You have to wonder if there wasn't an editing problem with that article. There was also this statement.

Devon Energy’s boathouse is a training facility for the Olympians. The venue has a weight room and a tank-chamber for rowing. The finish line tower is a state-of-the-art building located at the finish line of the race course. There’s 50-floors and event space that overlooks the river and downtown skyline. They are currently adding more boathouses as we speak. There a new zipline adventure being added as well.

I never noticed that the Finsh Line Tower had 50 floors. LOL

[OKCisOK4me]

Sounds like she sent this piece to the Oklahoman to have it edited before print run.

[bchris02]

I can see OKC as being a regional destination for people from Amarillo and possibly Wichita. People from Arkansas go to Tulsa more often. OKC lacks certain things that make a tourist destination though, such as natural beauty. Dallas and Tulsa are also so close I have a difficult time seeing this city ever becoming more than a regional destination.

[zookeeper]

I can see OKC as being a regional destination for people from Amarillo and possibly Wichita. People from Arkansas go to Tulsa more often. OKC lacks certain things that make a tourist destination though, such as natural beauty. Dallas and Tulsa are also so close I have a difficult time seeing this city ever becoming more than a regional destination.

Too many other other places, far older and ahead of us with so much to do and natural beauty. I can't imagine being on too many lists as a vacation hotspot. That's just not Oklahoma City, perceived or otherwise. We should accept this, but maybe someday?

[OKCisOK4me]

Too many other other places, far older and ahead of us with so much to do and natural beauty. I can't imagine being on too many lists as a vacation hotspot. That's just not Oklahoma City, perceived or otherwise. We should accept this, but maybe someday?

I am more likely to agree with this.

[bchris02]

Too many other other places, far older and ahead of us with so much to do and natural beauty. I can't imagine being on too many lists as a vacation hotspot. That's just not Oklahoma City, perceived or otherwise. We should accept this, but maybe someday?

Agreed. There is very little OKC can do to change this fact. Even with a better national perception, OKC could be viewed as a great place to live and do business but not a place to vacation unless you live in one of the smaller cities in the region. OKC has plenty to do in this department as it is. OKC's zoo is better than zoos in many cities its size. Then there are the museums, White Water, Bricktown, casinos, etc. I wish OKC had a real amusement park and an aquarium though.

OKC's best chance at attracting tourists is to get more national conventions held here. People aren't going to vacation here unless its for something such as a convention.

[Just the facts]

Disney cost more to maintain and operate than it did to build, and the maintenance and operation will go on forever. I was watching a show the other day and they said "urban tourism" is 70% of all tourism. When you think of all the natural attractions in the world and urban areas make up 70% of the industry that is pretty impressive. I was trying to explain the attraction of Epcot the other day and really it comes down to Americans will pay $90 a person to see replicas (and I don't just mean the buildings) of what most of the world lives in every day.

[Just the facts]

I think it takes a serious financial and cultural commitment to build and preserve amazing places.

I still think it cost more and requires more commitment to build and preserve non-amazing places. Just look at how some people on OKCTalk cling to suburbia. Mention walkability and you would think someone broke into their house and kicked their dog. If the public subsidy dried up suburbia would disappear quickly (and we sure wouldn't be building more of it).

Alas, maybe I missing your point so let me see if I can follow you. We could spend $180 million on AICC and get a flashy museum which attracts a diminishing number of tourist every year or we could spend that $180 million creating walkable neighborhoods with nice sidewalks, retail space, public square, sidewalk furniture, etc... which would endure for generations.

[mkjeeves]

If the public subsidy dried up suburbia would disappear quickly.

The burbs are subsidizing downtown. Not the other way around.

[BoulderSooner]

The burbs are subsidizing downtown. Not the other way around.

i am not as anti suburbia as some in this threat ..... but this is not an accurate statement

[mkjeeves]

Downtown was dead before maps. No one lived there. Most of Oklahoma City didn't work there and there was no retail. (A good bit of that is still true.) The property values and city taxes generated by property taxes in the suburbs far exceed any taxes generated downtown.

Downtown was mostly saved by Maps, which was a sales tax issue. Sales tax voted on by people who live in the burbs, since there were little to no people living downtown, raised from sales that happened in the suburbs on money spent at businesses in the burbs by people who live in the suburbs, with incomes made at jobs that were mostly not downtown.

Please stop telling the fiction about how downtown subsidizes the burbs. It isn't true and never has been true.

[HangryHippo]

Please stop telling the fiction about how downtown subsidizes the burbs. It isn't true and never has been true.

It sure as hell has been true and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it's still true.

[Plutonic Panda]

It sure as hell has been true and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that it's still true.

I'm not trying to argue here and I really don't care either way. I am a "burb" guy and always will be because I think the suburbs provide a better life of quality, but that is my opinion. But, in response to you response. . . But, how? Just curious

[mkjeeves]

Here's a reality check.

Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development - Major Employers

Besides the fact the vast majority don't work downtown, 99%+ of the people working at those businesses don't live downtown or generate sales taxes downtown. And that's today, after we've spent millions subsidizing downtown.

[Just the facts]

We can debate all day long if taxes generated in downtown OKC are being used to fund expansion in other parts of the city but the simple fact is this; without the Federal Housing Authority creating FHA backed loans for returning WWII vets, the mortgage deduction on income taxes, the Federal Reserve buying $85 billion worth of mortgage backed securities every month, tax benefits to the auto industry for the last 80 years, tax credits to oil companies, and the Federal Highway Administration building freeways suburbia simply would not exist - period - end of story. Just where do you think the $16 trillion in debt we have went? A lot of it went to fund the transition from high density city living to low density suburban sprawl. And yes I include the cost of defense as a by-product of urban sprawl because the reality is we have to keep oil cheap enough to burn in cars or our economy stops. You simply can't call for reduced military spending AND keep living in low density suburbia.

And lets not forget Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who under-write almost every home loan in America and both bailed out by the taxpayers.

Hell, I could do this all day. You like watering your suburban yard - thank the US Army Corp of Engineers and the federal taxpayers for the water.

[mkjeeves]

without the Federal Housing Authority creating FHA backed loans for returning WWII vets, the mortgage deduction on income taxes, the Federal Reserve buying $85 billion worth of mortgage backed securities every month, tax benefits to the auto industry for the last 80 years, tax credits to oil companies, and the Federal Highway Administration building freeways suburbia simply would not exist - period - end of story.

There would be no downtown OKC either, since there would have been no economy to support it. Good luck with rolling back time. Either way, it doesn't matter, the horse is out of the gate and the fact remains, the burbs in OKC subsidize downtown and that's not going to change anytime in the foreseeable future.

[Just the facts]

There would be no downtown OKC either, since there would have been no economy to support it. Good luck with rolling back time. Either way, it doesn't matter, the horse is out of the gate and the fact remains, the burbs in OKC subsidize downtown and that's not going to change anytime in the foreseeable future.

Cities existed prior to 1951. They had tall buildings and everything. Even downtown OKC existed. What we didn't have were suburbs. Now by claiming that the suburbs are subsidizing downtown do you mean MAPS?