By: Theo Reilly | From: Conference & Meetings World

With its Texas rivals pouring billions into bigger venues, San Antonio is betting on size to stay competitive.

The city in south-central Texas (80 miles from Austin) has proposed a $900m plan to expand the Henry B González Convention Center by 200,000sqft, boosting its total exhibit space to over 700,000sqft – which will push it into the top 10 largest centres in the US.

Elsewhere in Texas, a race is underway. Austin is spending $1.6bn to demolish and rebuild its convention center with 620,000sqft of rentable space. Dallas is investing $3.7bn in a full-scale overhaul and Houston is pursuing a $2bn renovation of the George R. Brown Convention Center – including what it claims will be the state’s largest ballroom. Fort Worth, meanwhile, is in the midst of a $701m expansion.

San Antonio’s tourism bureau, Visit San Antonio, says it regularly loses business due to size constraints. The bureau claims it has left $700m in potential revenue on the table over the past six years. Visit San Antonio’s CEO says larger shows like Ace Hardware’s fall expo can’t currently fit in the 1.6m sqft facility.

The planned expansion would boost the venue’s exhibit space ranking from 18th to 10th in the U.S., with consultants forecasting a 19% rise in visitor spending – or a 10% drop if the city stands still.

But questions linger. Most convention centres don’t break even. Despite $23.5m in 2023 revenue, the city won’t confirm whether the centre makes or loses money. Experts caution against overpromising – like Heywood Sanders, professor and expert on convention centre economics at the University of Texas. Heywood noted that San Antonio’s own consultants once forecast 728,000 annual attendees by 2000. They didn’t hit this figure for nearly two decades.

Meanwhile, University of Colorado professor Geoffrey Propheter pointed to city bond data showing that conventions now account for less than 6% of hotel room nights – down from 12% in the 1990s.

Still, city leaders argue that with the facility running at 70% occupancy (industry full capacity) expansion is overdue. It would also form part of a broader downtown “sports and entertainment district” featuring a new Spurs arena and hotel (for NBA basketball team San Antonio Spurs).

A final decision is expected after a feasibility study concludes. If approved, construction could begin by 2028.