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Houston Tourism and Conventions
Hotel Occupancy
With robust demand and a modest number of additional rooms on tap for the coming year, Houston hotels can expect continued gains in occupancy, average daily room rate and revenue per available room (RevPAR), PKF Consulting reported in its 2007 Texas Trends Hotel Industry Report.
Economic uncertainties two years ago and rapidly rising construction costs last year led to delays in new hotel projects, meaning that recently announced projects won’t increase the supply of rooms until ’09-’11. With demand strong, the firm sees occupancy rising from an average of 67.5 percent in ’06 to 69.0 percent this year and a very strong 70.0 percent in ’08. The average daily room rate, on track to top $100 for the first time this year, is expected to rise 3.9 percent to $105.50 next year. RevPAR, a single measure that reflects both occupancy and room rate, grows 7.4 percent this year, from $65.21 to $70.03, and then rises another 5.4 percent next year despite the addition
of more than 2,200 rooms.
The good news is that 2008 is expected to be a banner year for conventions, and 2010 looks great. PKF Consulting points out in the report that many groups rotate convention sites from year to year, and notes that Houston appears to be in a cycle in which even-numbered years are strong.
Sources: Greater Houston Partnership; PKF Consulting
Houston Tourism
More than 34.4 million people visited the greater Houston area in 2006.
Visitors spent more than $10 billion in Houston in 2006, an increase of 7.5 percent over 2005.
In 2006, travel directly generated 116,400 jobs in Houston, with an estimated $4.3 billion in earnings.
Travel generated $237.8 million in local taxes for the city of Houston in 2006.
In 2006, more than 9.9 million hotel room nights were sold, with $605 million of direct revenue to the hotels.
60 percent of all domestic travelers to Houston are from Texas.
Kemah Boardwalk, Space Center Houston, Moody Gardens, Minute Maid Park, Schlitterbahn, Houston Zoo and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston are among Texas’ top attractions, according to a recent survey.
Top activities for visitors to Houston include:
- Sightseeing
- Visiting attractions, particularly nightlife and amusement parks
- Nature, especially the beach and waterfront
- Cultural and historical spots—museums and performing arts in particular
- Outdoor sports, especially golf
Source: State of Texas Department of Economic Development and Tourism
Conventions and Business Travel in Houston
In 2006, Houston hosted 309 conventions, events and shows, which drew nearly 995,679 convention delegates to the city of Houston with an economic impact of $969,791,346, based on attendance.
Houston is listed as one of the top 25 cities for convention, conference and seminar travelers, according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
TIA also ranks Houston as a top city for general business travelers.
Sources: Destination Marketing Association International; Travel Industry Association of America; Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Travel Statistics from Mexico
6,532,000 visitors arrived to Texas by from Mexico by air and car in 2005.
Texas ranks as the second most visited state in United States by Mexican travelers after California. Florida and New York rank as No. 3 and No. 4.
Mexico consistently ranks as the No. 1 source of international visits to Texas, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The economic impact from Mexican visitors to Texas is estimated at $3.6 billion.
Mexican visitors spend an average of $96 per day in Texas and 71.8 percent stay in hotels or motels when they come. They spend an average of 3.6 nights in those hotels.
59.2 percent of Mexican travelers state their main purpose of travel to Texas as leisure/recreation and holidays. 75.6 percent of those state shopping as their favorite activity when they are here.
Most Mexican travelers do not gather information about their trip online. 51.9 percent go through a travel agency and another 27.1 percent go to the airline directly. Booking is also done with the agency or the airline.
65.3 percent of Mexican travelers list their employment as professional, manager or executive. Their average annual household income is $71,900. 26 percent of those surveyed by the State of Texas had an annual income of more than $100,000.
Houston is the top travel destination for Mexican visitors in Texas. In fact, 47.6 percent of all Mexican visitors to Texas come to Houston by air or car.
According to the Houston Airport System, 2.98 million passengers traveled between Houston and Mexico in 2006. This includes pass-through traffic at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
This does not account for an extremely high amount of road traffic into Houston from northern Mexico.
Sources: Texas Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism/ Research, the Houston Airport System
Cruising
The state of Texas is an expanding cruise embarkation market with the Ports of Galveston and Houston both expanding their cruise operations. With $709 million in direct spending and 13,817 jobs paying $578 million in income, Texas accounted for just under 5 percent of the industry’s national economic impact.
Texas’ two principal ports, Galveston and Houston, generated 518,000 embarkations during 2004, 6.4 percent of total U.S. cruise embarkations. The combined embarkations at the two ports during 2004 increased by 50 percent over 2003.
Tourism-related businesses, such as travel agencies, airlines, hotels, etc. received more than $280 million, approximately 40 percent of the industry’s direct expenditures in Texas in 2004.
Source: International Council of Cruise Lines
Houston’s Largest Meeting and Convention Facilities
Source: Houston Business Journal
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