Port Aransas and Mustang Island (Texas), San Antonio, St. Louis, Richmond, Virginia, and Providence, Rhode Island, are boosting their branding and group appeal through culinary programming.

From attention-getting cultural scenes to major new convention centers, here are four destinations where major downtown investments are significantly reshaping and redefining the meetings scene.

Brandon Robinson, CAE is executive director with the Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE) in Richmond, Virginia. The group recently held its 2018 Annual Conference in Norfolk.

Encompassing the nine cities and six counties of the Hampton Roads region on southeastern Virginia’s Lower Peninsula, Coast Virginia opened the book on the American experience with the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and has contributed major chapters ever since. At the forefront of inspiration and discovery, from land and sea to outer space, the area’s dynamic destinations inspire expanded thinking and new directions.

East Coast gaming resort's provide an abundance of extravagant group dining experiences.

The East Coast’s major players are increasingly looking to wine, dine and wow groups in this ever-expanding regional market.

From Miami’s storied Fontainebleau Hotel, appearing in the opening of the 1964 James Bond classic Goldfinger, to The Biltmore in Asheville, N.C., featured in Peter Sellers’ 1979 swan song Being There, movie appearances can be branding gold for properties.

Looking to produce stronger connections, derive deeper meaning and create lasting memories from your next meeting or event? Book a property with a famed hosting history, and your attendees will remember you well for it.

Craft beer is a big deal on Galveston Island. Events include the popular annual BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival, hosted each Labor Day weekend by Moody Gardens and venues around Galveston.

In what is yet be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, Galveston did not pay its customary price.