World Report

ouston, hot on the heels of US leader Chicago, is positioning itself as a major international venue for business conferences and conventions, as well as tourism.
Officials are looking to take advantage of the city’s superior travel connections – it is home to Continental Airlines – its moderate climate and diverse charms, to attract the travelling business community and more holidaymakers.

Tollet
‘You don’t have to leave downtown unless you choose to play golf’

There is now a real determination to show people the other face of this bustling oil town, according to Jordy Tollet, president and chief executive of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB), which is promoting itself as one of the country’s most progressive destinations.
The city’s attitude towards conventions and tourism has shifted considerably in the past few years, according to Mr Tollet. Houston is now second only to Chicago in the amount of convention space it offers for major exhibitions.
The GHCVB’s marketing slogan states: ‘You’ll think the world of this city’, a motto which is to be put to the test in a little over two years’ time when the US’s greatest sporting event arrives.
Mr Tollet says the 2004 Super Bowl – to be held in the new, purpose-built Reliant Stadium next to the city’s famed Astrodome, due for completion in August 2002 – will provide an ideal showcase. “On February 1, 2004 we want 800 million people looking at a new Houston,” he says.

With a television audience in around 200 countries, that is how many people are expected to tune in to see this affluent and expanding southern city.
In recent years, the oil industry has been joined by information technology, biotechnology, space science and others, as the city has embarked on a broad modernisation and diversification drive.
“Houston keeps expanding,” says Mr Tollet. “It keeps investing in itself. This year we have had almost $2.5 billion worth of construction going on.”
Developments include more than $100 million in improvements to the city’s environment, a new centre for the performing arts, a new stadium, new exhibition centres, and new hotels.

“Houston has always had a ‘back-to-business’ community,” says Mr Tollet. “We are going to have virtually brand new facilities.” Add to these the city’s 6,000 restaurants and the 60 new clubs which have opened in recent years and Mr Tollet’s claim that “you don’t have to leave downtown unless you choose to play golf” sounds perfectly reasonable.
This is reflected in Houston’s commitment to expand its already impressive convention facilities. Space at the George R Brown Convention Center is to be doubled to a million sq ft, while the exposition facility at the Astrodome complex is to be overhauled and will eventually extend to 700,000 sq ft. Other exhibition facilities around the city are also being improved.

This growth is being plotted alongside a series of other important developments including new hotel accommodation. Houston already boasts 350 major hotels and motels offering around 50,000 rooms. There is also extensive work going into the renovation of streets and the general appearance of the city.
Houston’s downtown area is experiencing a renaissance after years of development work, and now includes the Bayou Place entertainment complex – a multi-million dollar renovation of a former convention centre – which offers a variety of great restaurants, shops and other live attractions.
Houston Astros baseball club is also enjoying its new home, the Ballpark at Union Station, which features spectacular skyline views and a retractable roof.

Massive investment is earmarked to improve transport and communications around the city, including the laying of new fibre-optic cables underground to prepare for the demands of the future.
There are plans to link the two giant convention centres – George R Brown and the Astrodome – with a new light railway system, which will make life easier for travelling executives.
“Basically, we’ll connect those two venues, so now you are really talking about nearly two million sq ft of exposition space connected by a short five-minute ride, enough time to have a coffee and take a break,” says Mr Tollet.