---

Tourism

Abilene Hosts 450,000 Visitors Annually

• The Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau reports that more than 450,000 people visit Abilene each year
• Abilene has hosted 66,206 downtown convention delegates in 2000, and 2,090 motor coach tour participants
• These tourists accounted for over $17 million in direct expenditures to the Abilene economy
• Tourism generated $3.3 million in local tax revenue in 1999.

Business Traffic

Downtown Businesses Employ over 6,000

• Over 700 businesses and 6,000 employees occupy downtown
• Downtown serves as financial core of the city
• Government buildings and offices include Abilene City Hall, Taylor County Courthouse, Abilene Federal Building, and the offices of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Congressman Charlie Stenholm, and State Senator Troy Fraser.
• Numerous upscale bookstores, coffee shops, bars, home furnishing stores, and small restaurants dot the downtown map
• A new and growing sector in downtown Abilene is telecommunications-headquarters include Southwestern Bell and several telemarketing and telecommunications servicing companies.
  

Arts & Cultural Institutions

• Abilene has more arts and cultural institutions per capita than any city in Texas besides Houston
• 95% of these institutions are located in the downtown cultural district hosting thousands of patrons annually
• Some of the organizations located downtown include The Grace Museum, National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene Ballet Theater, Abilene Opera Association, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, Abilene Classical Chorus, Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, Classical Youth Chorus and the Paramount Theater
  

Business & Leisure Destinations



Abilene Civic Center

• 450,000 guests in 2008
• 670 events
• 100% weekend usage
• 96% weekday usage

Main Areas:

• Auditorium (2,121 seats - includes 12 wheelchair spaces)
• Exhibit Hall (20,000 square feet exhibit space with no obstructions - 22' ceiling)
• Conference Center (full) - 13,394 square feet - carpeted
• Foyer - 9,000 square feet

Meeting Areas:

• Upstairs Conference Room - 3,500 square feet
• Red Carpet Lobby - 2,500 square feet
• Mezzanine - 1,900 square feet
• 6 Small Meeting Rooms - 840 to 400 square feet

Conference Center:

• Breakdown to 4 Individual Meeting Spaces - 4,631 to 2,762 square
• Green Room - 600 square feet
• Convention space for almost 4,000 people

Windsor Apartments & Ballroom

• 80 apartment units
• 156 reserved events annually
• 10,400 persons attending events

Center for Contemporary Arts

• 12,500 patrons annually
• 48 reserved events per year
• 3,840 persons attending events

Quality Inn - Civic Center
qualityabilene@aol.com

• 50,000 guests annually
• 116 Rooms

Paramount Theater

• 109,000 guests annually
• 60 films per year --600 attend per weekend, all weekends
• 13 live productions annually
  --13,000 attendees yearly including performances by Abilene Opera Association, Abilene Ballet Theater, & in-house shows
• 150 Miscellaneous Rental Functions
  --60,000 attend annually
  --Three events per month

Grace Museum

• 60,696 patrons annually
• 218 reserved events per year
• 18,000 persons attending

Center for Children's Illustrated Literature

• 17,500 patrons annually 6
• 0 reserved events per year
• 7,500 persons attending reserved events

Recurring Events



Artwalk

• Attendance-900-2,000 depending on season (13,200 annually)
• Date-2nd Thursday of every month
• Award-winning downtown promotion in which all museums & galleries are free of charge

Celebrate Abilene!

• Attendance-25,000
• Date-April
• Celebrates Abilene's culture, highlighting art and the contributions of the railroad

Abilene Christian University
     Homecoming Musical

• Attendance -6,200 over three performances
• Date-October
• Annual full-scale musical held in the Abilene Civic Center

Festival of the Americas

• Attendance-12,000
• Date-September
• Downtown festival celebrates Latin-American culture

Western Heritage Classic

• Attendance -30,000
• Date-May
• Parade & activities celebrate western culture in Abilene

West Texas Fair & Rodeo

• Attendance-130,000
• Date-September
• The downtown parade preceding this event is the longest parade held in Texas

Performing Arts Series

• Attendance-10,000 anticipated over five performances
• Dates-Summer through Fall
• Broadway show series held in the Abilene Civic Center

City Sidewalks

• Attendance-5,000
• Date-November
• Christmas parade and entertainment sponsored by the Abilene Downtown Association