Meeting Planner's Guide – General Information
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General Information Hotel Facilities General Information Welcome Event Venues General Information Irving CVB Transportation Airports Accessibility Customer Services Off Clock the Welcome to Irving, Texas! 1 Centrally located between Dallas and Fort Worth, and right next door to Irving Facts Founded............................................1903 DFW International Airport, our 75+ hotels make it easy to call Irving home. Incorporated.....................................1914 We’re a little like the hub on a wagon wheel: no matter which way you Population....................................225,427 Area...............................69.3 square miles turn, you’ll find every resource you need to make your meeting or event Elevation......................................470 feet a success, including Texas-sized shopping, first-class dining, and a wide Area Codes.....................214, 469, 972, 817 For more Irving statistics, please visit: variety of unique attractions, sporting events, festivals and museums. cityofirving.org/common/demographics.asp Lots of Room Friendly Staff Irving is home to multiple Fortune 500 Our staff of hospitality industry companies, 75+ hotels, 11,000+ guest professionals is ready to assist you AMARILLO rooms, 200,000 square feet of hotel at a moment’s notice – by expediting WICHITA FALLS LUBBOCK IRVING meeting space and the Irving Convention the hotel selection process, providing FORT WORTH DALLAS ABILENE MIDLAND TYLER EL PASO ODESSA Center at Las Colinas. So whether you qualified resource recommendations or WACO SAN ANGELO need a site for 10 executives or 1,000 creating itineraries that bring the best AUSTIN BEAUMONT salespeople, Irving is the perfectly of Texas to your clients while working SAN ANTONIO HOUSTON situated, mid-sized city with big ideas on within your program budget. With our GALVESTON CORPUS CHRISTI how to make your next business meeting unique promotional support and incentive LAREDO a success – with hometown service in a programs, you’ll find working with Irving, MCALLEN big-city atmosphere. Texas makes it easy to do business. BROWNSVILLE Los Angeles, CA Minneapolis, MN New York, NY 3 HOURS 2.5 HOURS 3.5 HOURS Seattle, WA Denver, CO Chicago, IL Washington, DC 4 HOURS 2 HOURS 2.5 HOURS 3.5 HOURS DFW Int’l Airport Phoenix, AZ Atlanta, GA 15 MINUTES 2.5 HOURS 2 HOURS FT. WORTH IRVING DALLAS 20 MINUTES Love Field Airport IRVING Destination Guide for Meeting and Event Professionals | Irving | Texas General Information 2 General Information Time Zone 24-Hour Pharmacy Irving is on Central Standard Time. CVS Pharmacy 2222 N Story Rd Sales Tax (972) 255-4155 Sales tax is 8.25%. This tax is added to most goods and services, as well as dining. General Business Hours Hotel room tax in Irving is 15%. Stores: Monday to Saturday 10 am to 9 pm and Sunday noon to 6 pm. Speed Limit Offices: Monday to Friday 8 am to 5 pm. Texas’ driving speed limit is 60 MPH on Nightclubs: open until 2 am weekends and rural interstates and 70 MPH on freeways, until midnight on weekdays. unless specified lower in special zones. Texas Facts Tipping Etiquette Population............................26.06 million Safety Belt It is customary to tip: taxi drivers – 10% to Area.........................275,416 square miles Texas seat belt laws state that all passengers 15%, waiters – 15% to 20%, bellmen – a Capital............................................Austin must wear a safety belt or be subject to a minimum of $1.00 per bag. Nickname.........................Lone Star State $153 fine. Origin of Name..................................Tejas Clothing (Friendly – Native American) Courtesy Roadside Service With an average temperature of 63 State Motto..............................Friendship Dallas: (214) 320-4444 degrees Fahrenheit, Irving has mild State Song......................Texas, Our Texas Fort Worth: (817) 370-6656 winters and hot, dry summers. Styles of State Bird..............................Mockingbird An invaluable and free service of the Texas dress range from casual to elegant, with State Flower............................Bluebonnet Department of Transportation, they will a variety seen throughout the Dallas/ State Tree........................................Pecan change a flat, provide gasoline, help start Fort Worth area. Air conditioning is a way State Dish..........................................Chili your car or call a tow truck. of life during Texas summers, making all Highest Point.....8,751 feet above sea level clothing comfortable indoors. (Guadalupe Peak) AAA Auto Club Lowest Point................................Sea level (214) 528-7481 Religion (Gulf of Mexico) Almost every faith and denomination is Time Zone..........................................CST Accessibility Resources represented in Irving. Most hotels or motels (except El Paso area – MST) Contact the Irving CVB for a complete have complete information regarding and detailed resource listing for all your locations and hours of services. accessibility resource needs. DART Paratransit: (214) 515-7272, option 3 International Services Currency Exchange Emergency Medical Treatment Currency can be exchanged at most The following hospitals offer 24-hour hotels, airports and banks, as well as emergency medical treatment: American Express and Thomas Cook offices. There are four Thomas Cook Baylor Medical Center Irving branches at DFW Airport. Please call 1901 N MacArthur Blvd at Highway 183 (972) 574-4754 for specific locations. (972) 579-8100 Passport Information Las Colinas Medical Center If you have a problem with your passport 6800 N MacArthur Blvd between (lost or stolen), please call (214) 653-7691. Highways 161 and 114 (972) 969-2000 General Information Irving | Texas | Destination Guide for Meeting and Event Professionals 3 Post Office Alcohol Consumption Laws Mailboxes and postage stamp vending Most major Texas cities and South Texas machines are accessible 24 hours a day in counties are “wet,” while the rest of the the lobby of Irving’s main Post Office, 2701 state is mixed. In some cases, alcoholic W Irving Blvd, 800-275-8777. Window hours beverages are available only in package are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 6 stores and private clubs (guests of most pm, and Saturday 10 am to 2 pm. The Story hotels and motels are automatically Road location, 2300 W Story Rd, 972-255- members). Closing hours for bars and 1637, has window hours Monday through clubs vary from city to city. On Sunday, Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm. liquor stores are closed, supermarkets and stores that sell beer and wine may not do Area Codes & Directory Assistance so before noon, and restaurants may serve Irving and Dallas/Fort Worth require mixed drinks, beer and wine after 10 am. Climate 10-digit dialing. Irving and the suburbs The climate in North Texas is moderate, surrounding Dallas are located mostly Important Numbers with year-round temperatures averaging within area code 972. Dallas is located in Emergency 63º Fahrenheit or 18º Celsius. Winters area codes 214 and 469. Calls between Police, fire or ambulance: 911 generally are mild, and snow and ice these three area codes are local calls. Calls are rare. Summers are hot and dry, made to Fort Worth, area code 817, usually Non-Emergency Service with temperatures usually below 100º are long distance. (Some numbers in the Police Department: (972) 721-2661 Fahrenheit. The annual average rainfall is 817 area code are metro and only require Fire Department: (972) 721-2308 10-digit dialing.) Local directory assistance less than 30 inches. is available by dialing 1411. Directory Weather assistance for telephone numbers outside Average Average Time and Temperature: (972) 844-6611 the Irving calling area is available by dialing Rainfall Temperature Road and Weather Condition: (800) 452-9292 1 + area code + 555-1212. Jan 1.9" 36º-55º (F) 2º-13º (C) Weather Radio Access: KRLD 1080 AM Feb 2.3" 41º-61º (F) 5º-16º (C) Smoking Policy Mar 3.1" 49º-69º (F) 9º-21º (C) Texas Department of Transportation All the cities that make up the Dallas/ Apr 3.5" 56º-77º (F) 13º-25º (C) P.O. Box 15426 Fort Worth Metroplex have smoking laws May 5.3" 65º-84º (F) 18º-29º (C) Austin, Texas 78761 and policies in effect, some of which Jun 3.9" 73º-92º (F) 23º-33º (C) (512) 832-7000 ban smoking in almost all public areas. Jul 2.4" 77º-96º (F) 25º-36º (C) txdot.gov Persons found to be in violation of local Aug 2.2" 76º-96º (F) 24º-36º (C) smoking laws can expect fines anywhere Sep 2.7" 69º-89º (F) 21º-32º (C) Texas Parks & Wildlife Department from $50 to $500. Policies vary from Oct 4.7" 58º-79º (F) 14º-26º (C) 4200 Smith School Rd community to community; ask your ICVB Nov 2.6" 47º-66º (F) 8º-19º (C) representative for details regarding your Austin, Texas 78744 Dec 2.3" 39º-57º (F) 4º-14º (C) group’s specific activities. (512) 389-4800 or (800) 792-1112 tpwd.state.tx.us Texas Department of Economic Development – Tourism Division 221 E 11th St, 4th Floor Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 936-0100 governor.state.tx.us Destination Guide for Meeting and Event Professionals | Irving | Texas General Information 4 Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau The Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau targets corporate, convention and leisure visitors to our hospitality industry partners – the city’s hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops, as well as those throughout Dallas/Fort Worth. Our award-winning staff makes service a priority, whether your travel and meeting needs are big or small. It is the Irving CVB’s mission to market Irving as a premier travel destination, enhancing the community’s economy and quality of life. The Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau focuses on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, media, independent travelers, the hospitality industry and the community. City of Irving – City Hall Our efforts are focused on generating demand for the destination, thereby creating value 825 W Irving Blvd for the industry and stakeholders. Innovation, partnership, research and accountability Irving, Texas 75060 guide our approach. We utilize person-to-person and technology-based sales, marketing (972) 721-2600 and customer-servicing activities to achieve results.