Arlington, Texas, Chamber Wants to Heat Up Tourism All Year.

Byline: Sean Wood

Feb. 26--ARLINGTON, Texas--Wes Jurey, chief executive of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, is the latest person to take up a quest to make Arlington a year-round destination.

His push is part of an overall economic development plan that he says would take advantage of the city's strengths.

"If we're going to confront the challenges we potentially face and take advantage of the opportunities that are currently in front of us, it's going to take strategies agreed upon and supported by both the city and the business community and key stakeholders such as the university, the community college, the school district, visitors bureau, chambers and community-based organizations," Jurey said.

The Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that 6.8 million people spend $396 million each year visiting Arlington and its attractions, including Six Flags Over Texas, the Ballpark in Arlington and Hurricane Harbor. But those numbers could be much higher if there was something to bring in people from September through April, tourism officials have said.

With that in mind, Jurey has created a hospitality task force that will present its ideas to the Arlington City Council once its work is complete.

"We need to begin thinking about bringing people into the area," Jurey said. "In 10 to 15 years, we could create a footprint that could turn Arlington into a destination city instead of a city with destinations."