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Essence planners say city lacked mobility
Festival fans hampered by sprawl, they say
By SALATHEIA BRYANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Houston will have to address mobility problems that hampered Essence Music Festival fans before the city will be considered to host next year's event, organizers said Thursday.
"It was a difficult city to navigate and that can't be ignored," said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc. "The end result was a general lack of systems to manage the sprawl. Houston underestimated the enormity and significance of this event."
Festival organizers said they heard numerous complaints from attendees related to the distance between hotels, shopping, downtown entertainment and Reliant Park, where the Essence Festival was held.
But Houston officials said the transportation hiccups that occurred during the three-day festival were the result of taking on the challenge of hosting the national event with less than a year to prepare.
Ebanks said organizers had suggested that free or subsidized shuttles be available to ferry attendees about town but that did not occur.
"Had the city or county invested more we could have had a different result. If a $126 million economic impact doesn't register there's nothing more that can be said," said Ebanks.
Jordy Tollet, president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said his office did its best to address transportation concerns. He said providing continuous shuttle service for the far-flung hotel block would have been an expensive undertaking costing between $300,000 and $400,000.
Tollet said his office was able to provide other services such as getting the Metropolitan Transit Authority to extend its rail line service hours and asking cab companies to provide discounts.
He said the bureau promoted the festival in other cities at no charge to the festival organizers, placed the event on more than 100,000 visitor guides and area hotels offered visitors discounts.
"Everything Essence asked, we did it," Tollet said. "We did everything we normally do for a major event. This city knows how to put on a big event."
As with any large event, there will be some kinks, Tollet said. Since this was the city's first time hosting the popular international music festival, there were things to learn.
He added that the city had about seven months to prepare for the large-scale festival when generally they would know years in advance about an event.
While transportation was a major issue for attendees, Ebanks said many also complained that after the late night concerts ended there was nothing for them to do.:tup:
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4029979.html
Festival fans hampered by sprawl, they say
By SALATHEIA BRYANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Houston will have to address mobility problems that hampered Essence Music Festival fans before the city will be considered to host next year's event, organizers said Thursday.
"It was a difficult city to navigate and that can't be ignored," said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc. "The end result was a general lack of systems to manage the sprawl. Houston underestimated the enormity and significance of this event."
Festival organizers said they heard numerous complaints from attendees related to the distance between hotels, shopping, downtown entertainment and Reliant Park, where the Essence Festival was held.
But Houston officials said the transportation hiccups that occurred during the three-day festival were the result of taking on the challenge of hosting the national event with less than a year to prepare.
Ebanks said organizers had suggested that free or subsidized shuttles be available to ferry attendees about town but that did not occur.
"Had the city or county invested more we could have had a different result. If a $126 million economic impact doesn't register there's nothing more that can be said," said Ebanks.
Jordy Tollet, president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said his office did its best to address transportation concerns. He said providing continuous shuttle service for the far-flung hotel block would have been an expensive undertaking costing between $300,000 and $400,000.
Tollet said his office was able to provide other services such as getting the Metropolitan Transit Authority to extend its rail line service hours and asking cab companies to provide discounts.
He said the bureau promoted the festival in other cities at no charge to the festival organizers, placed the event on more than 100,000 visitor guides and area hotels offered visitors discounts.
"Everything Essence asked, we did it," Tollet said. "We did everything we normally do for a major event. This city knows how to put on a big event."
As with any large event, there will be some kinks, Tollet said. Since this was the city's first time hosting the popular international music festival, there were things to learn.
He added that the city had about seven months to prepare for the large-scale festival when generally they would know years in advance about an event.
While transportation was a major issue for attendees, Ebanks said many also complained that after the late night concerts ended there was nothing for them to do.:tup:
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4029979.html
