HOUSTON – Texas Senate Bill 1057 is now a game-changing law for Houston, according to Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corporation, the city’s official destination marketing organization. The new legislation will provide approximately $2 billion in funding for the city to transform and reimagine the George R. Brown Convention Center and the surrounding Houston convention district.
“This funding will ensure Houston remains a premier convention and major event destination for decades to come and will generate billions of dollars in additional economic impact for Houston in the years to come,” Heckman said. “The opportunities for the future are endless. My colleagues at Houston First Corporation and I are extremely excited about this project and the exciting months and years ahead.”
Trade Show Executive Q1 2023 Dashboard
Houston has become a gathering place for conventions and trade shows. It has been announced that it will host the PCMA Convening Leaders Conference, one of the nation’s largest gatherings of meeting, convention and trade show professionals in 2025.
The group’s flagship education and networking event will be held January 12-15, 2025, at the George R. Brown Convention Center, marking the conference’s 25th anniversary. “The business events industry plays a vital role in bringing people together, which drives economic growth and the social good of individuals, organizations and communities,” said Sherrif Karamat, PCMA President and CEO.
The George R. Brown Convention Center hosted Trade Show Executive’s Gold 100 annual livestock industry convention and NCBA trade show as well as the 2022 Fastest 50 TAA ONE Conference and Expo.
“We look forward to hosting the largest gathering of meeting professionals in the country when Convening Leaders comes to Houston in 2025,” Heckman said. “Not only is Houston a premier destination enjoyed by millions of visitors each year, but our campus at the George R. Brown Convention Center is the perfect place for event professionals to collaborate and inspire while enjoying the world-class culinary and cultural offerings of the nation’s most diverse city.” Trade show attendees will have plenty of new hotels waiting for them. Houston’s hotel inventory continues to expand, with more than 20 new properties coming online in the last three years and dozens more on the horizon. The Houston Convention District market has added just over 2,700 rooms across 22 different properties since the start of 2021.
Contact Michael Heckman at mheckman@houstonfirst.com; Sherrif Karamat at skaramat@pcma.org
Photo courtesy of Houston First Corporation