All Articles Travel Q&A: Michael Heckman on how travel is connecting people to Houston
Houston First Corporation President and CEO Michael Heckman discusses global events, luxury development and culture — and how they’re strengthening Houston’s position as a premier destination.
6 min read
By Angie Giroux 01/20/26
Travel
Houston First Corporation
Houston continues to deliver strong tourism and convention performance, even as many U.S. destinations navigate a more challenging travel environment. In this Q&A, Houston First Corporation President and CEO Michael Heckman explains what’s fueling that momentum — from airport and hotel investments to culture, community spaces and a robust global events calendar.
2025 was a strong year for Houston despite broader headwinds facing U.S. destinations. What do you think continues to set Houston apart in attracting visitors, conventions and major events?
There are a number of factors keeping Houston’s hospitality sector strong. Visitors are coming here for our diverse culinary scene, our world-class cultural arts and to visit their friends and family in one of the fastest growing metros in the U.S. Couple that with our robust meetings and conventions calendar and our healthy corporate landscape that keeps business travel growing, and it’s clear why we aren’t seeing the significant visitor declines experienced by other destinations around the country. From a meetings standpoint specifically, we have a fantastic, walkable convention campus with several major hotels, a beautiful 12-acre park and great restaurants and amenities around us that are real selling points for our clients.  
With major upgrades underway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, including the new international terminal, how important is a seamless international arrival experience to Houston’s growth as a global gateway city?
Houston is a global city and our largest airport serves dozens of international destinations and more than 12 million international passengers annually. The infrastructure improvements that Houston Airports are putting in place will make the travel experience through IAH more streamlined and enjoyable. With a new ticketing lobby and baggage handling system coming online soon, the airport’s new international terminal will be complete. Our airports are the first impression many international travelers have of Houston and it’s important we get that right.

Several high-profile hotel and hospitality projects are coming online in 2026, from the Greenleigh in Uptown to the JW Marriott expansion downtown. How do these investments shape the type of visitor Houston is trying to attract?
Houston has advanced tremendously as a destination over the last decade and so has our brand identity both domestically and internationally. Now, we are seeing an increasing amount of new hospitality investment aiming to attract luxury travelers. These two projects are emblematic of that trend, but a series of new boutique luxury properties have opened in the last couple of years while larger scale projects including a new Ritz Carlton are on the horizon. I think the market is reacting to the type of visitors Houston is getting, and in turn these new properties will help us draw even more travelers to the destination seeking a luxury experience.
Projects such as the Emancipation Park Cultural Center expansion and the Main Street Promenade highlight a focus on community, culture and walkability. How do these developments enhance both the resident and visitor experience?
There is a real focus on creating gathering spaces in Houston happening right now. The Main Street Promenade project led by Downtown Houston + is about turning a major thoroughfare into a place of community, where both locals and visitors can eat, shop and simply enjoy the outdoors. It’s part of larger effort to make our Downtown more walkable and connecting nodes of activity across the district. 
When it comes to improving our parks and greenspaces like Emancipation Park, there’s a lot of activity. While Emancipation Park is focused on creating a space for live events and community building, other initiatives in the works like the 100-acre Memorial Groves project at Memorial Park will reimagine entire swaths of greenspace for the next generation while honoring that park’s past as a World War I training ground. 
For our part at Houston First, a major component of our $1 billion initiative to transform the George R. Brown Convention Center is a new 100,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza that we believe will serve as a central community gather space for events and celebrations when it opens in 2028. 
2026 will be an unprecedented year for sports and global events in Houston, including the FIFA World Cup. What does hosting multiple marquee events in such a short time frame mean for the city’s long-term tourism and economic impact?
Major events like the MLB World Baseball Classic and the FIFA World Cup provide a tremendous opportunity to showcase Houston on the global stage. The World Cup alone will draw hundreds of thousands of fans to Houston and will leave a tremendous economic impact on our community. But we are also focusing on the opportunity to expand our brand as a welcoming, diverse, global destination to new and growing markets. We have built a marketing campaign around this concept that we are calling World in a City—highlighting the many cultures and communities that make Houston unique. We will deploy that in the coming weeks and will share those assets with our stakeholders so they can use them in their efforts as well. 
From major museum exhibitions to new culinary destinations such as Eataly, Houston’s cultural and food scenes continue to evolve. How do the arts and dining factor into Houston’s identity as a travel destination?
Food and art are inextricably tied to our identity as a culturally diverse global city. Our culinary scene is second to none with over 12,000 concepts representing more than 70 different types of cuisine. And our chefs have the James Beard Awards and Michelin stars to back it up. On the arts front, we are home to world-class museums such as The Menil Collection and Museum of Fine Arts Houston alongside some of the finest performing arts companies anywhere, including the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera—the latter of which is up for a Grammy this year. Based on our research, we know these are among the leading experiences visitors to Houston look for and it’s why we as the DMO have worked to carefully craft our brand identity and messaging around these key attributes, which is helping expand our visitor economy. 
Looking across these developments — travel infrastructure, culture, sports and community spaces — what role does travel play in connecting people to a city like Houston, and why does that connection matter now more than ever?
Travel is a powerful tool for understanding and learning about one another. When we travel, we’re exposed to new experiences, new flavors, new cultures. We see what makes a particular place unique. As the fourth largest city in the U.S., Houston is expansive and there’s a lot going on. When we can create places and events with real connection, that truly showcase the identity of our city in a microcosm, we’re doing something right. 
I’m excited about the opportunities in the year ahead for travel in general and for our destination in particular. Travel has the capacity to bring people together unlike anything else, and I think we need that right now.
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Travel
By Angie Giroux
Angie Giroux is a senior editor at SmartBrief, overseeing content and newsletters related to travel, hospitality, amusement parks and attractions, and the aerospace and aviation industries.
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