DALLAS -- The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau has been flooded with angry e-mails and hostile phone calls from meeting planners threatening to cancel commitments in Dallas, concerned a trip to the area could land them in jail.

The goal was stopping drunken drivers when people staying at a hotel bar were arrested.

"What has happened in this situation is, it's sort of crossed the line," Phil Jones said.

The CEO of Dallas CVB said national attention focusing on the arrests has changed the motto from "Don't mess with Texas" to "Don't visit Texas."

"If you think they would even consider doing something like this in Las Vegas, you're fooling yourself," Jones said.

Jones has told the governor's office that arresting hotel patrons in hotel bars is a biz-killer.

"I'm getting calls from groups and meetings who are looking at canceling bringing their meeting or convention to Dallas," Jones said.

"It definitely concerns us," the Fairmont's general manager Frank Naboulsi said.

Naboulsi has no problem with initiatives to stop drunken driving but cringes at the thought of conventioneers being arrested in their hotels.

"Allow us to do the job that we're hired to do and allow us to do the job to service the guests that come to Dallas," Naboulsi said.

So Fairmont conventioneers will return as Dallas is hosting two major conventions.

Meanwhile, Dallas is battling new perceptions that visitors aren't welcome.

"What I told the governor's office was that from this point forward, we'll just encourage anyone who's upset or who has something to say about it to just contact the governor's office because TABC is a state agency," Jones said.

TABC said it's only enforcing the law.

The long-term impact of booking conventions is yet to be seen but concerns about the arrests are definitely being heard.