Spectacular show: IPW San Antonio

San Antonio did a really great job in hosting this tourism convention with over 5.000 delegates from more than 60 countries for the first time! Superb events, shows, parties every evening, special deals, tours, give-aways, and everything perfectly arranged, people friendly all over, and, all places easily walkable from our Hilton hotel. No shuttle busses or waiting in line necessary this time - a big plus, too!

Sunday, our first IPW day, started with the official German delegation’s breakfast in the Hlton Hotel at 8 am, followed by a press brunch at the Witte (Natural History) Museum. Dancers, singers, food boothes set up in the park surrounding the museum, performers on stage. The museum was shut down for our group of international journalists. 

Press tours next. Among several choices we had, we opted for the „Art is Everywhere“-tour. It was a good choice! First, the bus brought us to the McNay Museum (right and below) - a wonderful private art collection, founded by a lady, who donated all of it and the historic mansion to a foundation to become a spectacular public museum surrounded by a park.  

 

 

On to the San Pedro Creek Culture Park. While the Riverwalk at the San Antonio River is rather touristy, this promenade along the San Pedro Creek is dedicated to public art, murals, sculptures, installations, etc. We met with some of the artists (photos below) - an eclectic mix! - and, would have walked further along the promenade if it wouldn’t have started to rain. We went back later, on our own, on Wednesday, to check out more and to admire the beautiful Alameda Theatre, which is about to be restored. 

Last stop was „Hopscotch“ - a new immersive artsy experience (more for young people), where we got a „Texas flight“ of different cocktails (photo on the right side).

We had an hour to freshen up before the opening event „Viva San Antonio!“ took place at La Villita on the Riverwalk - minutes away from our hotel. The event included the different ethnical groups in the area, among them Germans, therefore „Oompah bands“, bratwurst and pretzels, but, also Mariachi, and, modern music, lots of excellent food - first of all, Mexican – and, of course, Margheritas and local beers.

On Monday evening - after a long day inside the air-conditioned Convention Center at Media Market Place - a boat parade was arranged just for IPW. San Antonio has many festivals, among them La Fiesta as one of the biggest, and, many of them take place on the river. Colorful boats of all kinds and topics, lights everywhere, fantastic scenery. We watched the second round of boats parading from our balcony on the 16th floor.

The tourism show itself was ,,, as usual: one full day of appointments (Media Market Place - left photo),  press conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday (photos below, one from New Orleans PK with famous musician Kermit Ruffins). In addition, we „walked the floor“ - the exhibition hall where states and destinations, attractions, hotels, etc., have set up their boothes. We talked to people, met with old friends, were pitching ideas, playing around with new projects, etc. It was strenuous, feet were hurting in the evenings, brain spinning. Lunch was served every day in a huge ballroom (photo below), and there was entertainment, e.g. live bands as the „Counting Crows“ or Broadway show presentations. 

Tuesday - parties on invitation in the evening. There were fewer „private parties“ of single destinations in the evening than before-COVID, but the ones we attended were fun: one was a rustic BBQ (open-air) with „The Great American West“, whereas New York State and New York City (right photo, restaurant The Range) chose fine-dining restaurants for their receptions. Last point on the itinerary this evening - after a couple of miles walked in 90 deg F.  from venue to venue - was  „The Saga“ - a spectacular historic projection of 25 minutes on the front of the cathedral (below).

The final Let’s Texas Party took place around and in The Alamo with a spectacular drone light show (photos far below) at the end. Food (below) ranged from quail to rabbit to whole fish, ceviche, tacos, and, of course beef brisket. There were regional sections, and, e.g. Fredericksburg or New Braunfeld served their beer and sausages, there was local wine from the Texas wine country or specialities from Austin. On several stages bands were playing, there were games and photo options and give-aways and much more.