Houston Completes ‘Epic’ Year in Convention Sales
February 5, 2018
Art piece, Wings Over Water, at Avenida Houston
In 2017, the city of Houston hosted Super Bowl 51, weathered Hurricane Harvey, celebrated their first World Series Astros win and had another record-setting year in convention sales. Visit Houston announced that for the third straight year, an unprecedented number of room nights tied to future conventions were booked in 2017. The sales team booked 429 conventions and meetings in 2017, representing 802,852-room nights, up from 765,401-room nights in 2016.
Key bookings attained in 2017 include the American Dental Association in 2022 and National Association of Realtors in 2025. Many of the citywide conventions secured in 2017 are first time bookings, thanks in large part to recent improvements that further showcase Houston as a world class destination.
The 2017 numbers were bolstered by a highly successful Super Bowl LI, renovation of the George R. Brown Convention Center, activation of Avenida Houston (downtown’s newest pedestrian-friendly entertainment district), along with new restaurants and hotels including the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis, which complements the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston, both of which are connected to the GRB. Having two headquarter hotels, along with the boldly-redesigned walkable entertainment district provide the sales team with a much more attractive package to better compete with other cities for convention business.