LEDA Releases Full Report on FFA Incident - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

LEDA Releases Full Report on FFA Incident

In a news conference Friday afternoon, representatives from the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, Visit Lubbock, and The Hotel Motel Association detailed the facts that left hundreds of FFA students and teachers without rooms last week.

Saying that there were no excuses for this "overbooking", LEDA CEO, Gary Lawrence, said a total of five hotels did not honor their contracts with the FFA during their annual convention in Lubbock.

• Courtyard by Marriott
• Fairfield Inn
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott
• Rodeway Inn 
• Villa Town

Each hotel overbooked guests and forced Visit Lubbock to pay and re-locate about 500 students and teachers to Texas Tech residence halls.

Courtyard by Marriott, Fairfield Inn, and TownePlace, all managed by Theraldson Development, all have agreed to pay Visit Lubbock the $15,000 of expenses it cost to re-locate the FFA groups.

Officials said Rodeway Inn and Villa Town have yet to agree to cover expenses incurred by to house their overbooked FFA guests.

FFA officials have said they cannot recall an incident of this magnitude in other cities hosting the FFA recently.

Lawrence said he was "sorry this happened" as it was an "embarrassment" to Lubbock, City Council, and the region.

Stay with NewsChannel 11 and KCBD.com for the latest developments.