Phillip Jones

Board

Phillip Jones joined the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) as President and CEO in November 2003, moving from Louisiana where he served as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. Upon his arrival, the Dallas CVB immediately created and implemented a new “Dallas. Live Large. Think Big.” marketing campaign, designed to increase national and international awareness of the city’s new dining, shopping, cultural, entertainment and hotel venues. Aggressive sales and marketing efforts have resulted in a 100-percent increase in definite room nights booked since Jones’ arrival – making Dallas No. 1 in the state for bookings for four straight years.

Under Jones’ direction, the bureau established additional sales offices in Austin, New York, Kansas City and the west coast to compliment existing sales offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and created special events in the heart of the city, including CityArts Celebration in the Dallas Arts District (June) and Savor Dallas international food and wine experience (March). In addition, he was part of the Dallas delegation to pitch the Egyptian government and help secure the blockbuster exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art, “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,” to run October 2008-May 2009.

Recently, a $5 million landmark Visit DFW collaborative program between DFW International Airport and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth was championed to market the airport as the gateway to the Americas, and trade and media initiatives are underway in Latin America and Asia. 

Jones serves on boards and committees for the Dallas Center for Performing Arts, the Dallas Assembly, the Texas Travel Industry Association and Destination Marketing Association International. In addition to his former position in Louisiana, he previously served as Director of Legislative/Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Travel and Tourism Administration in Washington, D.C., where he helped organize and was a lead spokesman for the first-ever White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. He has also served on the board of the Travel Industry Association of America. In 2008, Jones was named one of Tradeshow Week’s “100 Power Pack,” featuring the most influential people in the tradeshow industry and was previously designated as one of the “Marketing 100” by Advertising Age Magazine. He is a member of the Alpha Nu Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society.

An avid triathlete, he has completed Ironman competitions in France, Arizona and California, as well as the Coeur d’Alene in June 2008. In addition, Jones qualified for Team USA in long-course competition at the world triathlon championship in 2007 and 2008 and is training for Ironman Canada in August 2009.