The Houston First Corporation announced in February that 2024 was a record-setting year for Houston’s hospitality sector, achieving new benchmarks in convention bookings, meetings hosted, hotel revenues, visitors to the city and air passengers, according to a Feb. 25 news release.

Houston First is the marketing organization charged with promoting the city as a destination for tourists and conventions. The company manages more than 10 city-owned facilities, including the George R. Brown Convention Center, Avenida Houston and the Wortham Theater Center.

The big picture

According to the news release, more than 54 million people visited Houston in 2024, a roughly 6% increase since 2023 and nearly 10% since 2019.

Meetings and events booked by Houston First in 2024 represented approximately 740,000 room nights overall, surpassing the previous record of 733,000 room nights in 2019. A.J. Mistretta, vice president of corporate communication for Houston First Corporation, told Community Impact room nights are essentially the amount of nights stayed in hotels in Houston.


"Every time somebody stays in a place, that portion of that is taxed, and then that's what helps fund our operations to keep promoting the destination," Mistretta said.

According to a Sept. 25 news release, major conventions hosted in Houston saw record-setting attendances, which included:Hotels ended 2024 with a healthy growth as well, with more than 25 million hotel room nights booked, an 8% increase from 2023. Meanwhile, Houston airports saw more than 63 million people traveling through George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports, a nearly 5% increase from 2023.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector currently sits at just under 362,600 jobs, up 1.5% compared to a year ago. A forecast from the Greater Houston Partnership estimates leisure and hospitality will add another 7,600 jobs in 2025.

What they’re saying


Mayor John Whitmire said in the news release that the visitor numbers demonstrate the city heading in the right direction.

“These efforts to promote Houston and attract conventions and tourists benefit all Houstonians by generating spending and commerce, which ultimately creates jobs in our community,” Whitmire said. “The exceptional work Houston First is doing is driving economic development, which is one of my top priorities as mayor, growing our economy to create opportunity for all.”

Michael Heckman, Houston First President and CEO, said the organization has been steadily building momentum in recent years

“Our strategies are laser focused on our mission to drive business for the hospitality sector and do our part to elevate the broader Houston economy,” Heckman said. “These numbers are proof of those efforts. Across all departments, our team performed exceptionally in 2024, and now as we embark on major new projects in 2025, we’re well positioned to capitalize on that performance.”


Looking ahead

Houston First is expected to host numerous conventions in 2025 that will bring new visitors from across the globe, according to the news release.

In January, Houston hosted the PCMA Convening Leaders’ 25th annual conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center, an event for the global meetings and conventions sector, with nearly 4,000 meeting planners and industry leaders attending the conference. Houston First hopes to generate $200 million in new business as a result of hosting the event,

Later in December, the International Association of Exhibitions and Events Expo! Expo! will bring 2,000 global exhibitions professionals to Houston, according to the news release.


The corporation is also planning for 18 citywide conventions to bring in approximately 220,000 visitors in 2025, according to previous Community Impact reporting.