The Tampa Convention Center is one step away from defending its title of Best Convention Center in the Southeast U.S. after advancing to the finalist round in the 2024 Stella Awards. The Central Florida convention center was among a limited number of nominees that received enough votes from the public to move on to the final round.
In 2023, the Tampa Convention Center won gold in this category, and it is now aiming to take the top honor for the second year in a row. A panel of judges made up of meeting and event professionals will now determine gold, silver, and bronze winners.
The Stella Awards are the highest honor in the meetings industry. They recognize convention centers, conference centers, hotels, and other event suppliers that consistently deliver exceptional service to meeting and event professionals. The Stella Awards are presented by Northstar Meetings Group, which is known for its influential brands including Meetings & Conventions, Meeting News, Incentive and Successful Meetings.
A record number of convention centers, hotels, and other venues competed for the 8th Annual Stella Awards, with more than 1,000 nominations submitted across 16 categories and six regions worldwide.
Winners will be announced on October 1st.
Located in the heart of downtown, the Tampa Convention Center offers sparkling waterfront views, 600,000 square feet of transformable event spaces, and state-of-the-art amenities for event and meeting planners. The venue was named among 20 Centers of Excellence by Exhibitor Magazine, which features North America’s best convention centers for trade shows and corporate events, and was selected as a winner in ConventionSouth’s 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards. The Tampa Convention Center achieved 2024 Global Biorisk Advisory CouncilTM (GBAC) STAR™ accreditation for cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention. The facility is set to host a record number of large, citywide events in 2024. It is expected to bring an estimated economic impact of nearly $136 million dollars and more than 354,000 attendees to the City of Tampa over the year.
The Tampa Convention Center partners with several companies to provide high-quality event services to exhibitors, including Aramark for food and beverage, Edlen for utilities, Encore for audiovisual and rigging, Sentry Event Services for security, Smart City for Internet and telecommunications, and The UPS Store for shipping, printing, branding, and signs.
