Economic Impact

THP will be self sustaining and during the first ten years of operations, the Park will create over 300 jobs and generate over $350 million in revenues. An investment in the Texas Horse Park makes sense for Dallas and for Texas. The citizens of Dallas have approved over $14 million in bond funds to create this facility and a private sector fund-raising campaign is expected to raise even more.  Dollars invested in this facility will result in substantial economic benefits such as new jobs, increased business opportunities, and additional revenues from sales and hotel occupancy taxes.  Individuals and businesses in Dallas’ Southern Sector will be particularly well positioned to reap these economic benefits. It is expected that businesses such as hotels and restaurants will be attracted to the Southern Sector in order to accommodate competitors and visitors to the Park.  The unsurpassed recreational opportunity afforded by the Texas Horse Park will anchor new development and endless opportunities in southern Dallas.

• Jobs
  Texas Horse Park will employ a variety of individuals, from corporate management to security and maintenance personnel.  During the first ten years of operations, the Park is expected to create over 300 jobs.
• Business Opportunities
  The Park is projected to generate over $350 million in revenues for the facility and other businesses during its first ten years of operation, including revenues from the facility’s operations, contract concessionaires and vendors at the facility, local stores and other local businesses, horse industry suppliers, and local hotel and motels.
• Hotel Occupancy Taxes
  Over $7 million in sales and hotel occupancy tax revenues are projected to be generated during the first 10 years of the Texas Horse Park’s operations.
• Visitors and Convention Business
  Tourism is big business in Texas, with over $4.9 billion spent on travel in Texas in 2005.  Most of this spending (60%) was by non-Texas residents.  The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was the top destination in the state for both business and leisure travel in 2004.  The Texas Horse Park will be a valued addition to Dallas’ Visitors and Convention business.  Visitors and conventioneers to Dallas will be able to watch world-class equestrian competitions or ride a horse on nearly 40 miles of uninterrupted trails. Visitors and conventioneers will find a “true Texas experience” in a state-of-the-art facility that is surrounded by nature yet set in the midst of a remarkable urban region, just a few minutes from the Convention Center and downtown Dallas.
• Ecotourism
  Nature tourism is a large and growing segment of Texas’ tourism industry. Nature tourism is defined as “discretionary travel to natural areas that conserves the environmental, social and cultural values while generating an economic benefit to the local community”.  Texas residents and non-residents spent nearly $5.4 billion on Texas wildlife recreation 2001, including equipment and trip-related expenses.  Plans for Dallas’ Trinity River Corridor combine the growing interest in nature tourism with the significance of the Metroplex as a major generator of tourism revenue.  The Texas Horse Park along with the activities planned for the Great Trinity Forest and other parts of the corridor will add important new nature destinations located close to the 6.2 million people living in the Metroplex today (and the over 9 million projected to live here by 2030).  These nature destinations are added attractions for the millions of people who visit the Metroplex each year (130 million person-days of trips in 2004).