Several major meetings and conventions booked by Houston First and held so far this year have broken attendance records as the city enters its busiest period of the year between now and Thanksgiving with at least 10 major conventions anticipated to total more than 140,000 attendees.

From a major youth robotics competition to one of the nation’s largest gatherings of food retailers, conferences and events held in Houston this year have surpassed expectations and set the stage for what could be a record-breaking year in convention attendance in the market.

“2024 has been an incredible year for Houston’s meetings and convention business and we expect it’s only going to get better as we move into the fall,” said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First. “Attendance for many of our booked events has exceeded expectations, and in some cases broken records. Business is thriving because our sales and services teams—along with our hotels and hospitality partners—continue to deliver for our customers.”

Among major conventions so far this year, Houston has hosted:

• FIRST Robotics – nearly 50,000 attendees—a record
• National Corn Growers – 11,500 attendees—a record 
• Associated Professional Sleep Societies – 5,610 attendees—a record
• Conference for the Advancement of Mathematics Teaching – 3,700 attendees—a post-COVID record
• Texas FFA – more than 14,800 attendees 
• HOSA Future Health Professionals – 12,600 attendees 
• Dairy Deli Bakery – nearly 9,500 attendees 
• American Association of Petroleum Geologists – 7,800 attendees
• American Academy of Physicians Assistants – nearly 6,000 attendees
• American Federation of Teachers – 2,100 attendees
• Gastech – 45,000 attendees (note: international conferences measure daily attendance and not unique attendees. Unique attendee total is not yet available)

Health care and medical meetings make up a significant portion of the conferences Houston is hosting this year. This is part of a broader strategy the Houston First sales team has implemented in recent years to target such meetings leveraging the city’s robust life sciences infrastructure and knowledge base. More than 18% of annual sales production is tied to this sector with the goal of continuing to grow that share of business.  

The next couple months are expected to be busy at the George R. Brown Convention Center with major events happening in rapid succession. Nearly half of the major conferences still slated for the remainder of the year are in the health care space and the majority are holding their events for the first time in Houston.

Upcoming conferences with anticipated attendance:

• Congress of Neurological Surgeons – September 28-October 2 – 5,000 attendees
• Texas Municipal League – October 8-11 – 8,800 attendees
• Association of Records Managers and Administrators – October 13-16 – 2,100
• attendees *
• Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies – October 19-22 – 5,000 attendees*
• Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer – November 6-10 – 6,000 attendees*
• Afrotech – November 13-16 – 20,000 attendees
• EDSpaces – November 12-14 – 3,000 attendees
• Society for Neuro-Oncology – November 21-24 – 2,500 attendees