More than 250 hotel and real estate professionals attended the 2009 Dallas Hotel Conference, held last month (still looking back, folks) at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas. Gardere Wynne Sewell partner Cliff Risman says the conference brought together unique perspectives on properties and where the industry will go despite recent setbacks.

JF Capital Advisors CEO Jonathan Falik believes the industry will still face significant headwinds and continue to struggle with limited visibility in 2010. Woodbine Development Corp CFO Gregory Mowatt anticipates improvement in late '10; however, the pace of '11 bookings is showing marked improvement at his company’s properties; it's still pretty dim, he says, but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Alvarez & Marsal managing director Chuck Bedsole, Gardere’s Cynthia Nelson, Gatehouse Capital CEO Marty Collins, PKF Consulting VP Randy McCaslin, and Nulo Hotels prez Mike Mueller. Chuck says the Dallas hotel, real estate, and investment market is still buzzing with insight and ideas. This concludes our look into the past. We admit, predicting what has already happened in '09 is much easier than guessing what will happen in '10.