'City Is On Fire': Hard-Won Identity Has Made DFW Hospitality A Hot Commodity

Without naturally occurring attractions like mountains or a beach, Dallas-Fort Worth has had to cultivate a strong identity to become a travel destination.

Now, sports, new resorts, theme parks, a burgeoning financial hub and the upcoming possibility of gaming are expanding the tourism map for the Metroplex, according to hospitality industry insiders who predict a sharp upward turn in tourism over the next couple of decades.

As the home to a variety of professional baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer teams, sports continue to be one of the biggest draws for visitors coming to DFW.

But adding in continued corporate relocations to North Texas and the planned Texas Stock Exchange, Horizon Capital Managing Director Dave Johnson said he doesn’t believe people fully understand how DFW is going to change over the next 15 years.

“All the money in the world wants to come to Dallas-Fort Worth,” Johnson said Tuesday at Bisnow's DFW Hospitality Update event held at Loews Hotel Arlington. “This city is absolutely on fire.”

DFW has been a business destination for years, but it is increasingly becoming a financial capital hub to rival Wall Street. Meanwhile, the city is a hub for experiential retail and could add casinos to its offerings.

Some of the excitement in hospitality surrounds Mark Cuban, the longtime Dallas Mavericks owner who sold a majority stake in the team last year. Cuban said he would like the NBA team to move into a new arena that is part of a destination casino resort.

The team’s new majority owner, the Adelson family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sands casino, has the resources to lobby for the legalization of gaming. 

“If we did have gaming, that could introduce something new and exciting and completely be explosive for us [in the] hotel and resort business,” Gensler co-Managing Director Steven Upchurch said at Tuesday’s event.

DFW also has the unique opportunity to distinguish itself as a top-tier destination thanks to its cultural institutions, unique neighborhoods and rich history, The Beck Group Chief Design Officer Brian Miller said. 

“And we have the availability of land and the capital to deliver these things,” Miller said. “That's a fantastic opportunity for us all.”

Cities in the Metroplex have benefited from creative leadership taking advantage of opportunities, Hall Structured Finance Senior Vice President Mike Canning said.

Canning said Frisco is at the forefront of that movement. The city recently saw the opening of Kaleidoscope Park in the Hall Park development. Modeled after Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Canning said the Frisco park was created as home to events and performances that will make it a destination for visitors. 

On a larger scale, Frisco will also be the location of the Universal Kids theme park scheduled to open in May 2026. Work on the all-electric park started going vertical a few weeks ago, Upchurch said. 

In addition to creating attractions, developers are also taking advantage of the region’s natural resources at Lake Texoma, which will be home to a pair of high-profile resorts along the Texas-Oklahoma border. 

Hard Rock Hotel at Lake Texoma will be on the Oklahoma side of the lake in the 2,700-acre Pointe Vista development. Scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2026, the $2B master-planned resort community will offer more than 19 miles of shoreline, a casino, a golf course, an amphitheater and an enclosed waterpark.

The Margaritaville Resort will be part of the $6B master-planned Preston Harbor development on the Texas side of the lake.

Johnson is a partner in the 3,100-acre Preston Harbor development with McKinney developer David Craig of Craig International. Craig said the development will feature “a ton of homes for sale,” an arena, multifamily housing and retail elements in partnership with Margaritaville.

Panelists said things are coming together for DFW, which took a long time to develop into a significant hotel market with highly unique offerings.

Hotel ZaZa in Uptown kicked that off. But following the redevelopment of The Statler Dallas and work on the Virgin Hotel, the Metroplex’s fortunes have changed. 

“Dallas has become a real sexy hotel market and I'm loving it,” Johnson said. 

He credited that change to the urbanization of Downtown Dallas and the work Fort Worth has done to make it a destination beyond just the stockyards. 

“I don't think Fort Worth gets a lot of credit for what they've done, which is phenomenal,” Johnson said.

That change has extended beyond the Metroplex’s two biggest cities to places like Hotel Vin in Grapevine, which Canning said couldn’t have existed in downtown Grapevine 10 years ago because there was no demand for it.

“But as people start traveling more, if you can build the right hotel for the right purpose in the right spot, then you get a great project like the Vin,” Canning said. 

Arlington has already become a focal point for visitors, Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton said. In addition to the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium and the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, the city has more attractions on the way.

“We finally have broken the log jam and dominoes are snapping themselves into place,” Yelverton said. “[I’m] really proud of the momentum that we've got going.”

Work is underway on The National Medal of Honor Museum, which is slated to open in Arlington in March. Six Flags is investing heavily in both of its parks in the city to keep those prominent in the minds of patrons, Yelverton said. And IndyCar racing is slated to bring the Grand Prix of Arlington to the city in March 2026.

A few months later, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will arrive in the Metroplex. 

“So the future is bright, [but] it's not predetermined,” Yelverton said. “ We can't take anything for granted based on market conditions and risks that are always out there. But we're a place that has the right spot, and hopefully, the timing.”