Jorge Franz

Jorge Franz is Senior Vice President of Tourism and Industry Relations for Houston First Corporation. He is a 25-year hospitality industry veteran and oversees two departments at the company, the Tourism department and the Houston Film Commission.

The Tourism Department is tasked with promotion and sales of Houston as a leisure destination to the travel trade industry in both domestic and international markets. The department oversees various initiatives designed to help promote Houston to potential visitors like the Houston Marketplace, the Houston Insider Program and Around Houston, a partnership with 15 destination marketing organizations near Houston.

The Houston Film Commission is responsible for marketing and promoting the greater Houston area to producers, production executives, and independent filmmakers as a film/TV/media production destination. This includes maintaining and providing industry resources such as a location database, crew directory, job board, and acting as a liaison to facilitate any production's local filming experience. His team most recently brought in the successful second season of the Netflix show, Mo, to Houston.

Mr. Franz most recently served as President of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, where he oversaw operations of the organization as well as interaction and value delivery for their 820 members. During his 13-year tenure there, he worked with the Houston Airport System and United Airlines to help increase the number of international destinations with non-stop service to Houston by more than 40%. He also oversaw the transition and rebrand of the organization to the Houston Hospitality Alliance.

Mr. Franz is very active in the Tourism sector. He currently serves as Most-Recent Past Chair of the Texas Travel Alliance Board, Secretary of Destinations Texas. He is also a Past Chair of the Governor of Texas’ Tourism Advisory Committee and former member of the Expedia Media Solutions Select Board.

Mr. Franz was born in Santiago, Chile and has lived in Chile, Venezuela, Spain and the United States. He has also represented Houston personally all around the world, working closely with multiple Houston mayors to attract visitors to Houston.