After ‘scathing Audit,' VisitDallas Will Visit City Officials Demanding Answers

VisitDallas will visit Dallas City Hall in the coming days to respond to what one council member calls a "scathing audit" made public late last week.The report, issued Friday evening by interim city auditor Carol Smith, said Dallas' convention and visitors bureau has been operating for years without vigilant oversight from City Hall. The report says that means the city can't verify how or how well or where VisitDallas spent the nearly $150 million the city disbursed to the agency between fiscal years 2013 and 2017."The narrative in the audit is about vaguery," said Mayor Mike Rawlings. "That ultimately is a concerning thing, because business this important should be run with precision."Because of "incomplete" tracking of metrics and poor record-keeping, says the audit, "VisitDallas' performance reports are not reliable." The audit found the city has no way of knowing whether events held at the convention center are successful. The report also determined a majority of the 53 events VisitDallas booked and classified as "citywide" — meaning at least 2,500 hotel-room nights on "peak" event nights — during those years were no such thing.   Continue reading...