It’s a three-peat: Tampa Convention Center won the gold medal for Best Convention Center (Regional – Southeast U.S.) in the prestigious Stella Awards for the third year in a row.
The convention center in Central Florida also took home the top honor in this category in 2023 and 2024.
“Our team has worked hard to not only earn but maintain our reputation as one of the best convention centers in the region,” said David Ingram, Tampa Convention Center Executive Director. “Winning three years in a row shows that we are a world-class venue that focuses on partnerships and outstanding service for our clients.”
The Stella Awards are the meetings industry’s highest honor, recognizing convention centers, conference centers, hotels, and other event suppliers that consistently deliver exemplary service and innovation to event managers and planners. 2025 marks the 9th year for the awards, which are presented by Northstar Meetings Group.
This year’s winners were selected from more than 10,000 votes from event planners and more than 1,000 nominations. An esteemed panel of judges selected the Tampa Convention Center for the top honor in its category over four other finalists. Winners were determined by:
- Overall excellence
- Superb food and beverage offerings
- Professionalism of staff
- Sustainability initiatives
- and other critical aspects of the meetings and events experience.
Located in the heart of downtown Tampa, Florida, 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 center is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2025, having opened in 1990.
Tampa Convention Center is committed to sustainability, achieving LEED Silver for Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) Certification for green buildings.
Tampa Convention Center partners with several companies to provide high-quality event services to exhibitors, including Aramark for exclusive food and beverage, Edlen for exclusive utilities, Encore for audio visual and exclusive rigging, FedEx for shipping and printing, Sentry Event Services for security, Smart City for exclusive Internet and telecommunications, and Xpodigital for exclusive digital signage.
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