Oct. 7, 2003 - The Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau plans to announce its new president and chief executive Tuesday, and his or her tenure will be problem-filled from Day 1.

The overriding concern: How to battle one of the worst downturns in the business-travel industry.

For the last two years, downtown Dallas hotel occupancies have hovered around 50 percent. And with very few citywide conventions scheduled for 2004, the number of empty rooms could grow.

That could put even more pressure on the embattled bureau, which gets most of its funding from hotel occupancy taxes.

The agency already has gone more than nine months without a CEO. The bureau's former president, Dave Whitney, resigned in January, after an investigation by The Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV (Channel 8) revealed questionable spending practices at the bureau.

The reports showed that the city reimbursed Mr. Whitney for thousands of dollars he spent on alcohol while entertaining clients at his home and on limousines to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Top bureau employees also entertained clients at topless bars and filed expense vouchers for travel that some critics say was for leisure, not business.

Dick Martinez, the agency's senior vice president of sales, followed Mr. Whitney out the door. Bureau chairman Chris Luna also resigned and was replaced by J. Peter Kline, a former hotel operator and developer.

"Without a CEO or senior vice president of sales, Dallas has been substantially handicapped," said Ed Griffin, a Dallas-based association management consultant and former head of Meeting Professionals International.

The search for a new leader -- led by a dozen industry, business and city leaders -- has been conducted outside the public spotlight. The legwork was carried out by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, which talked to 350 candidates from inside and outside the travel industry.

The name of the proposed candidate wasn't revealed to the bureau's full board until Monday, the day before it was scheduled for a vote. The search committee voted unanimously for the appointment, a board member said Monday.

The new president's credentials and leadership will be put to the test by increased competition from Dallas' convention peers -- including stronger entertainment draws such as San Diego, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla.

Local competition also is heating up. Gaylord Opryland Texas, scheduled to open next year in Grapevine, stands poised to win medium-sized conventions that might have otherwise gone to Dallas.

Other challenges facing the city's convention chief:

Choosing a sales strategy. The new president will have to decide how Dallas will advertise itself on the national stage.

"We've never put any money into getting Dallas into the national press, and it's proving to have been a mistake," said Greg Elam, the bureau's spokesman.

Dallas has several opportunities to get national attention, including the Nasher Sculpture Garden, which opens Oct. 20 in the Arts District downtown.

"The Nasher is getting wonderful publicity, but there are other things we have here that could have been used to create a buzz about Dallas," Mr. Elam said.

The bureau must also figure out how to better use the resources it has in competing with other cities.

"It comes down to selling to meeting planners," said Tom Faust, vice president of sales and marketing for the Wyndham Anatole hotel. "Other cities are telling their story better than we're telling ours. That's got to be a priority."

Stopping the bleeding. Orlando and Las Vegas are luring conventions that used to book Dallas, and the city's share of national meetings is shrinking.

"At one point, Dallas was on the map of just about every large association, and we've lost some of that momentum," said Frank Naboulsi, president of the Hotel Association of Greater Dallas and general manager of the Fairmont Dallas hotel. "We need to get this city back on the cycle of the major associations."

Building a convention center hotel. Meeting planners have told Dallas officials that a hotel next to or attached to the convention center is essential.

Hilton and Marriott have expressed interest in managing a city-owned hotel, but neither has put an official proposal on the table. And many downtown hotel operators have said the city doesn't need to add any hotel rooms in a down market.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, who successfully pushed for a change in state law to allow Dallas to fund a convention center hotel, has said the City Council could hear from Hilton and Marriott next month. Formal proposals could be on the agenda early next year.

Improving Dallas' image. Industry experts say Dallas has lost the luster it owned when the Ewings lived at Southfork on the city's namesake TV show.

A study commissioned by the bureau will be released by year's end comparing Dallas with its peer cities. It's expected to provide a direction for the city's marketing efforts.

Implementing an advertising campaign. Bureau staff members have outlined a marketing plan, but they have hesitated to carry it out until the president is on board.

The increased competition means the city's advertising campaign has to be aggressive and narrowly focused, said Ray Pekowski, president of The Expo Group in Irving.

"Before, there was a potential for any show to come to your city, but that's not true anymore because there are more options."

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