Gaylord Entertainment Creates Opryland Hospitality Group To Unite All Of Its Hotel Operations To Build Opryland Brand
Dave Jones, who joined the company in 1998 as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Opryland Lodging Group, retains that title with the new Opryland Hospitality Group. Jack Gaines, who joined the company the same year, reports to Jones as President of Opryland Hotel & Attractions.
“This new organizational structure allows us to maximize the considerable strengths of our hospitality leadership team and ensures we will develop a truly integrated operation as we open our new hotels over the next several years,” said Terry London, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gaylord Entertainment. “Dave Jones has done a great job of laying the groundwork for the expansion of our Opryland Hotel convention destination concept, and Jack Gaines is a tremendous leader for our biggest single property.”
The Opryland Hotel in Nashville opened in 1977 with 600 rooms and has grown to 2,884 rooms and 600,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, making it the largest combined hotel and convention center under one roof anywhere. Expansion plans, originally pursued under the Opryland Lodging Group name, began in 1998 to create new properties in markets across the southern half of the U.S.
The first two projects of the Opryland Hospitality Group are the 1,400-room Opryland Hotel Florida in Osceola County, just a few minutes from Walt Disney World, and the 1,500-room Opryland Hotel Texas in Grapevine, Texas, just seven minutes from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The Opryland Hotel Florida is scheduled to open in 2002, and the Opryland Hotel Texas is scheduled to open in 2003. Each hotel will have a convention center in excess of 400,000 square feet, which will include an 185,000 square-foot exhibit hall.
“The Opryland brand is exceptionally powerful in the hospitality industry, both in our primary market of meetings and conventions and in the leisure market,” Jones said. “In Nashville, we have built a solid reputation for two reasons--the professionalism and friendliness of our team coupled with a fantastic hotel property. Through the Opryland Hospitality Group, we are ready to continue that tradition of excellence.”
In addition to the Opryland Hotel itself, Opryland Hotel & Attractions in Nashville includes the 307-room Inn at Opryland, the 1,200-passenger General Jackson showboat, the Springhouse Golf Club, the Opryland KOA Kampground, the Opryland River Taxis and Grand Ole Opry Sightseeing Tours.
Gaylord Entertainment Company is a diversified entertainment company operating in three business segments: hospitality and attractions; broadcasting and music; and cable networks. Among its properties are WSM radio and the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel, Acuff-Rose Music Publishing, Word Entertainment, Z Music Television, Country Music Television International, the Wildhorse Saloon and the Ryman Auditorium.