Meeting planners from around the country are here to make arrangements for events surrounding the game on Feb. 6, 2011 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
“There are going to be hundreds of extra ancillary events that will be either on the front end, during or post super bowl game,” said Brooke Dieterlen with the Hotel Association of North Texas. “And so we’re preparing for that. We know that we have the space to accommodate that and I think that makes us very unique in hosting the Super Bowl.”
The Hotel Association hosted a meeting Tuesday at the Dallas Hilton Anatole Hotel. The Anatole is guaranteed a big piece of the action because it is the NFL Headquarters Hotel for Super Bowl week.
But many smaller places will see business, too and NFL officials want to see that all the hotels communicate effectively with guests.
“That’s what we talked about today was educating everybody so they have the same answers for people, where events are, how to get to events,” said NFL Events and Operations Director Dave Houghton.
“This is the first time for us to come to this region and host this game and so the impact on the community is different and new for them and it’s also new for clients coming to town,” Houghton said.
Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson attended the Super Bowl planning meeting at the Anatole.
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“It’s going to mean a lot for North Texas. There will be windfall profits for all of our businesses and I think it’s very exciting,” Johnson said.
Another meeting was Tuesday at the Dallas Convention Center for minority and women owned businesses seeking to do business with the NFL and it’s fans.
Around 900 business people attended that meeting, including Stephanie Johnson (no relation to the congresswoman).
She owns a company called A Woman’s Touch Marketing, which specializes in throwing parties.
“I think that opportunity is there to maybe even be able to grow my business, so I’m excited about that,” Stephanie Johnson said.
Promoters of the North Texas Super Bowl hope to make is so successful that the NFL will return with a local business windfall again and again.
“We are a city, an area that works together and I think we can do it,” Congresswoman Johnson said.
