Hospitality is Houston’s fourth-largest employment sector, and the industry hit record numbers across several metrics in 2024—including convention bookings, meetings hosted, hotel revenue, visitors to the city, and air passenger traffic—indicating its growing strength in the city’s economy. According to a February 2025 release from Houston First Corp., the city’s destination marketing organization, preliminary projections show that more than 54 million people visited Houston in 2024, nearly a 6% increase from 2023.
“Last year’s record visitor numbers demonstrate Houston is leading in the right direction,” says Houston Mayor John Whitmire in a prepared statement. “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. The exceptional work Houston First Corp. is doing is driving economic development, which is one of my top priorities as mayor—growing our economy to create opportunity for all.”
Meetings and conventions booked by the Houston First Corp. team and held in 2024 accounted for nearly 740,000 hotel room nights, breaking the previous record set in 2019 of 733,000 room nights.
“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,” says Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corp. “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.”
Houston area hotels’ average daily rates and revenue per available room rose by 6.8% and 15% respectively, both of which are key measures of hotel performance. Overall hotel revenue in 2024 surpassed the 2023 record by 15.5%. In tandem with hotel occupancy records, Houston’s two passenger airports also saw record traffic in 2024—more than 63 million people traveled through both George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport last year.
“Each year we welcome more and more visitors from around the world to experience our dynamic culture, major events, and unmatched hospitality,” says Jay Ziedman, board chair of Houston First Corp. “This city continues to shine as a premier destination for convention, business, and leisure travelers.”
