HOUSTON

"It's the city of big plans and no rules,...world-class museums...and the biggest damn liquor store on the planet. How could you not love Houston?“

– Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

The Basics

• America’s 4th largest city

• 2.3 million residents• No ethnic majority• 83 languages

spoken• “Houston” – First

Word Spoken from the Moon

“Reinvention, innovation and cultivation make Houston our City of the Year for 2011.” – Fast Company

Richmond Hall at The Menil Collection

By the Numbers

• $92.09 – Average hotel room rate in 2010

• $32.53 – cost of an average meal in Houston, $5 less than the national average

• $1.25 – cost of a one-way ticket on the METRORailHouston Named One of Budget Travel’s Top 10

Destinations for 2011

“The city is flexing its cultural muscle and encouraging tourists to explore to their heart's content with the Houston CityPASS."– Budget Travel

Space Center Houston

Top Attractions• $39 adults, $29 kids• Save 41 percent• Only 11 cities offer

CityPASS in North America• Hotel packages available at

VisitHouston.com

“Yes, oil money still reigns supreme, but it now competes with culture.” – The New York Times

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Arts by the Numbers• 18 museums within

walking distance• 6.6 million visitors to

the Museum District annually

• 17-block Theater District

• 12 resident performing arts companies

• 44 Houston Grand Opera world premieres

My Houston: The Arts

“It's easy to conclude that Houston has one of the most satisfying food scenes in the country right now.” – The New York Post

Brenner’s on the Bayou

Dining by the Numbers• 60 cuisines offered by

Houston restaurants• 8,986 food service and

drinking establishments• 6 James Beard Award

nominations in 2011• 5.7 – No. of times

Houstonians eat out per week, more than residents of any other city

My Houston: Culinary Scene

“Bold and brash, Texas's largest city is a lively mix of high culture and down-home hospitality, charming neighborhoods and standout shopping.”

– Elle Decor

Lot 8

Shopping & Fashion by the Numbers• #1 shopping city in

America, according to Forbes.com

• 1 Project Runway winner, Chloe Dao of Lot 8

• 375 shops in The Galleria

• 1 city block – Amount of space Tootsies fills with women’s designer merchandise

My Houston: Shopping & Fashion

“Houston is ready for the big leagues.” – Business Traveler

Reliant Stadium

Sports by the Numbers• 2 – No. of times the

Houston Dynamo have won the MLS cup

• 2 – No. of times the Houston Rockets won the NBA championship

• 2 retractable-roof stadiums (Minute Maid Park and Reliant Park)

• 3 – No. of downtown stadiums (when Dynamo stadium opens in June)

“Washington Avenue has been transformed into one of Houston's most popular nightspots.” – The New York Times

Sawyer Park

Number Crunch: Nightlife

• 5 – No. of distinct nightlife districts

• 5 – No. of times Anvil Bar & Refuge has been included on a list of America’s best cocktail bars

• 9 – No. of breweries in the Houston area by early 2012

• 1847 – The year La Carafe, Houston’s oldest bar, was built

My Houston: Live Music

“The city has lots of great parks with bike trails, beautiful old oak trees and awesome skyline views.” – Family Circle

Market Square Park

Parks and Outdoors by the Numbers

• 14.2 – Percentage of the city’s land area represented by parks

• 700 – No. of city and county parks

• 65,000 – No. of acres of city and county parks

• 145 – No. of public and private golf courses

“This is a city's city: standing proud, happy and bright at the center with a rugged ring around the middle. Houston literally hums.” – Dallas Morning News

Texas Medical Center

Health Care by the Numbers

• 49 – No. of institutions in the Texas Medical Center

• #1 – Ranking of M.D. Anderson as the top cancer center in the country

• 1,000+ – No. of acres within the Texas Medical Center

• 93,530 – No. of Texas Medical Center employees

“That's just another facet of the New Houston—a seemingly random tapestry of traditional and modern, upscale and down-home, ultra-country and ultra-

urban—all presented with a warm Southern smile.” – Southwest Spirit

What’s New/Coming Soon

• Houston Ballet Center for Dance (March 2011)

• Sundance Cinema opening in Bayou Place (Nov. 2011)

• Asia Society Texas (March 2012)

• Dynamo Stadium (June 2012)

• HMNS Expansion (Summer 2012)

Book a Room. Support the Arts.

GHCVB Resources

• Monthly e-newsletter• What’s New in Houston

(quarterly)• Ask Veronica• Events Calendar• Special Offers & Hotel

Packages• Facebook.com/

VisitHoustonTexas• Twitter.com/

VisitHoustonTX• New website to launch

January 2012

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