Houston is shaping up to be the next big spring break destination.

Houston First says March is already shaping up to be the most lucrative for the economy on record. They told KHOU 11 that visitors are stimulating the economy with hundreds of millions of dollars.

With a week left of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and another week of spring break, we’re not at the end of the road just yet.

Houston First said it’s done a lot of work expanding its social media footprint, and visitors are taking notice.

“People coming into our city, they spend their money and they leave, but their money stays here,” said Houston First CEO and President Michael Heckman.

Heckman said amid all the events, Houston hotel bookings are up 12%.

“That kind of an increase means millions of millions of dollars, not just for our hotels that are here, but that translates more into restaurant spending, and transportation, and attractions, and all the rest of the things that happen here. So that’s a pretty substantial jump,” he said.

He said Houston as a brand is growing and they’ve invested a lot in social media influencer support.

Lauren Bass is one of many spring breakers visiting the city.

“Honestly, trying to figure what I was going to wear, I looked up TikTok videos from the Houston Rodeo last year, so I think social media has a huge influential impact,” she said.

Thanks to all the events around Houston, like the rodeo, World Baseball Classic, and March Madness coming up, Heckman said that economically, March is shaping up to be the best month on record.

Alex Debarros and her niece Kyla Hand, who lives out of state, are visiting for the rodeo.

“It’s really cool to see the rodeo and something different from Florida,” Hand said.

They said they’re happy to see Houston’s diversity draw in crowds.

“I think Houston’s like a melting pot. There’s so many different types of backgrounds here in Houston,” Debarros said.

Houston First said many more big things are on the way for Houston, from NCAA regionals to the FIFA World Cup. Their advice to visitors is to book hotels early.

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