In a recent interview on The Building Texas Show, Galveston Mayor Craig Brown detailed the city's new $100 million cruise terminal investment, record-setting tourism, and critical infrastructure efforts to combat sea-level rise and flooding on the barrier island.
Galveston's cruise industry is expanding with a new $100 million terminal, part of a strategic growth plan that positions the city as the fourth-largest cruise port in the U.S. The expansion supports an expected 2 million cruise passengers in 2026, contributing to an overall annual visitor count of 9 million people—making tourism the city's primary economic driver. “Tourism is really our number one economic engine,” said Brown. “We’re a city of 53,000 people, but we’ll have close to 9 million visitors this year.”
As a barrier island, Galveston faces escalating threats from sea-level rise, high tides, and stormwater flooding. The city is implementing a stormwater master plan and investing in advanced pump stations to address “nuisance flooding” that now occurs even on sunny days. “The future of our island from a flooding standpoint is pumps,” Brown explained. “We’re putting emphasis on developing pump stations to help drain water in different areas.”
Galveston’s educational ecosystem—including Texas A&M University at Galveston, the University of Texas Medical Branch, and Galveston College—helps retain graduates in key sectors like healthcare, maritime sciences, and port operations, supporting the city’s long-term economic resilience.
Learn more about events, attractions, and lodging at VisitGalveston.com. Watch the full interview with Mayor Brown on The Building Texas YouTube channel.
