In 2024, Houston First Corporation (HFC), the city’s destination marketing organization (DMO), hit a group hot streak, hosting 604 meetings and events representing approximately 740,000 room nights.
Besting the previous high of 733,000 room nights set in 2019, bookings included the 2024 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) youth robotics championship, which brought in 50,000 attendees from 58 countries to the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB).
Returning this April, the event’s organizers acknowledged Houston’s “rich legacy of firsts.”
Maintaining the momentum, the HFC’s sales team booked 759 future meetings worth nearly 862,000 room nights last year, up 25% over 2023 and far surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
“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,” stated Houston First President and CEO Michael Heckman in a release. “Across all departments, our team performed exceptionally in 2024, and as we embark on major new projects in 2025, we’re well positioned to capitalize on that performance.”
Strategies to maximize group business include a major GRB transformation (see sidebar) and the promotion of two veteran executives to new leadership positions.
With nearly four decades of destination marketing experience, John Solis has the new role of senior vice president of convention
growth and development. Nathan Tollett, who started his career as an event manager at the HFC-operated George R. Brown Convention Center in 2002, replaces Solis as senior vice president of convention sales. Both have been with HFC since 2009.
In this Q&A with Meetings Today Senior Contributor Jeff Heilman, Solis and Tollett talk about the strategic focus of their continuing collaboration.
What are your respective new responsibilities?
Nathan Tollett: I lead the effort to position Houston as a top convention and event destination while guiding the sales team and building strong community and client relationships. It is all about driving results, creating partnerships and ensuring that Houston has strong positioning at key industry events.
John Solis: I am responsible for driving the strategic vision, growth and execution of our convention and meeting services. My focus includes expanding our convention business and enhancing client and attendee experiences. Plus, collaborating across our internal team and with external stakeholders, clients and community partners to ensure what we are offering is competitive, innovative and on trend.
How has Houston’s group story evolved in your time with HFC?
Solis: Over the past 15 years, I have witnessed significant upgrades to our hotel package, including two headquarter hotels now directly connected to the convention center, and a 40% increase in hotel rooms within the central business district.
The recent renovation of the GRB in 2017 introduced great enhancements including a more open floor plan across the exhibit halls, full-service dining options and dynamic outdoor activation space with the addition of Avenida Plaza. Centered around a vibrant 12-acre park, we offer an overall first-class convention campus experience.
How do you plan to build on last year’s booking success?
Solis: Records are meant to be broken—we always focus on raising the bar. Our success is rooted in being active in the market and maintaining consistent collaboration with our customers, target clients and industry partners.
Tollett: We have built a great strategy to execute on—highlighting the destination, global access and our evolving hospitality landscape. By leveraging Houston’s leading industries and local expertise, we will further differentiate the city and attract meetings aligned with our economic strengths.
[Related: The Most Recent Property Openings, Renovations and Other Development News in Texas (2025)]
What underlies the upcoming GRB transformation?
Solis: It is no secret that Dallas and Austin have announced significant convention center expansions, and San Antonio is expected to unveil plans for new space soon. With these investments positioning our region for a wave of new, first-class venues, Houston is boldly keeping pace by making major improvements to its convention campus.
Tollett: The GRB project will allow us to further maximize our walkable campus, provide greater flexibility for high-demand events and ensure we remain competitive in a rapidly evolving global and regional landscape. It is not about reinventing Houston—it is about amplifying what already makes us great.
The George R. Brown Convention Center of Tomorrow
From paving roads and erecting bridges across Central Texas to building WWII ships in Houston to constructing an oil pipeline from East Texas to the northeastern U.S. for the war effort, Texas-born businessman and civil engineer George Rufus Brown loomed as large as his Lone Star projects. Once running one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies, Brown was also an avowed philanthropist whose donation of six Houston city blocks helped pave the way for the city’s new convention center.
While Brown did not live to see the October 1987 opening of his namesake venue, the latest transformation of the George R. Brown Convention Center will carry his legacy well into the future.
Phase one of the multiyear plan, GRB Houston South, is an advanced 700,000-square-foot expansion with spaces including two exhibition halls totaling 150,000 square feet; 50,000-square-foot multipurpose hall with new outdoor plaza; and the largest ballroom in Texas with panoramic downtown views.
Slated for May 2028 without interruption to GRB bookings, this initial development, accessing the Toyota Center via a new 100,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza, paves the way for a new interconnected campus of major facilities, amenities and public spaces. Targeting final completion by 2038, the goal is to become “the most sellable and innovative convention facility in North America.”
