Convention leader says city needs to catch up

Houston still lags far behind other cities when it comes to attracting tourists, but the head of the local convention bureau said he wants to turn it around by doing a better job selling the city and developing more attractions and events.

“We’ve been asleep at the wheel for the past 10 years on the tourist side,” Mike Waterman, president of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, told a group of about 100 hospitality professionals at a luncheon sponsored by the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Houston.

Houston had 14.9 million visitors in 2015, and Waterman wants to ramp that up to 20 million by 2018.

But even that figure pales to tourism in other major cities, he said. New York attracted 54 million visitors last year, Chicago 42 million and San Antonio 31 million.

Most of Houston’s visitors come from around the Houston area. Tourism is the 10th-largest

industry in Houston.

One way the convention and visitors bureau is trying to boost tourism is by investing in local conventions that might bring in visitors from beyond Texas, including a 50 percent stake in the convention for comic fans, Comicpalooza. The bureau also invested in a health care convention known as Medical World Americas and SpaceCom, a show that focuses on the commercial applications of the space industry.

By taking an ownership stake in the conventions, the bureau is able to have more control of the events and improve them by providing professional services such as marketing and promotion, he said. Bureau-backed shows, he added, attract better sponsors.

The bureau also is trying to encourage more visitors from Mexico through a new advertising campaign called “Hola Houston.” The bureau hired Houston street artist GONZO247 to paint a mural of Houston images in Mexico City, much like a mural he painted in downtown Houston. Many Mexicans come to Houston to shop, and the campaign is designed to focus on the city’s cultural and culinary offerings.

The bureau is making commercials promoting the city that feature local celebrities such as Jim Parsons, star of the television show “The Big Bang Theory.” It has staff available to help filmmakers scout locations in Houston, Waterman said.

An effort to beef up taxi service — which Waterman calls the first and last impression of Houston that many visitors receive — is also in the works. “Top Taxi” was launched to teach all 3,700 taxi drivers in Houston to smile, welcome visitors to town and open car doors. To date, 500 drivers have been trained.

Waterman said development in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center will turn the once-congested avenue into a pedestrian promenade with new outdoor cafes and parklike space. It’s not just for conventiongoers, he said, but also for Houstonians to enjoy.