UM leaders scramble for hotel rooms in Fort Worth

United Methodist News Service
With just three months until the General Conference convenes in Fort Worth, organizers are scrambling for rooms to accommodate delegates.
“It has been a perfect storm,” said the Rev. Alan J. Morrison, business manager for the 2008 General Conference, which runs from April 23 through May 2. “The hotel industry in Fort Worth is in total flux.”
Nevertheless, Morrison said he was confident the housing issues would be settled adequately with help from the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Instead of having five or six hotels downtown with large blocks of rooms as we had hoped, we’ll meet our needs with a list of about 20 hotels, including some that aren’t downtown, and with much smaller blocks of 20, 30 and 40 rooms,” Morrison said. “We may have people housed as far as 16 miles away, but we’re looking to the next tier down in terms of level of service to try to accommodate people closer.”
The General Conference housing bureau began taking reservations from delegates Tuesday via phone, the Internet, fax or mail. Downtown reservations are booked first-come, first served, but priority is given to international delegates as a matter of hospitality.
“In all, roughly two-thirds of the delegates will be downtown, including all the international delegates and half of the U.S. delegates,” Morrison said.
Because of the hotel adjustments, the Commission on General Conference is providing bus transportation between outlying hotels and the Fort Worth Convention Center each morning and evening. That adds additional expenses to the projected $6.6 million cost of the event.
General Conference is the de-nomination’s top legislative assembly. It meets once every four years to set policy for United Methodists worldwide.
Initially, organizers expected to book 1,500 rooms in downtown Fort Worth within walking distance of the convention center. In addition to accommodating the 992 delegates, planners expected to house hundreds of others downtown, including reserve delegates, bishops and staff members for General Conference and church agencies.
Others involved in the gathering—from choirs to marshals and pages—make their own reservations.
“We expect to see probably 5,000 to 7,000 people easily coming through the Fort Worth Convention Center,” Morrison said.
The Commission on the General Conference chose Fort Worth in 2002 for the 2008 gathering. At the time, the outlook for accommodations was rosy. Six downtown hotels offered more than 1,500 rooms, and another hotel (now the 600-room Omni Hotel project), adjacent to the convention center, was planned.
The Omni project hit delays and won’t be open in time. The Hilton, formerly the Radisson, closed one of its two towers in 2006 and went from 500 rooms to 296. The former Clarion Hotel became Embassy Suites and went from 300 rooms to 156 suites.
The Fort Worth Plaza shut down for renovation in 2006 and won’t reopen in time for the meeting.
While the hotel issue has been challenging, Morrison said other logistical arrangements for General Conference are progressing on schedule.
“General Conference is still going to happen in Fort Worth, and I believe the Holy Spirit will be present and moving amongst the body as we conduct the work of the church,” he said.