GBTA Convention 2027 · August 2–4, 2027 · San Diego Convention Center, San Diego
A GBTA Convention 2027 booth in San Diego where travel buyers sit down
Travel managers at GBTA Convention arrive with RFPs, so we build seated meeting space, a fast demo counter and enough privacy to talk rates and volumes. The San Diego Convention Center runs a union floor, so our project manager plans the install with the union crew and has it lit before opening.
- Aug 2–4 · San Diego
- Nearly 400 exhibitors, 2026
- Space from $57/sq ft
Every last fee listed upfront, in full, on paper. 3,000+ exhibitors · 10,000+ booths built · 4.9★ client rating · Since 2015
Travelers waiting to depart in an airport terminal
01 Purple at GBTA Convention 2027
What makes GBTA Convention different, and how we build for it
GBTA Convention is where corporate travel managers meet the companies that sell them hotels, flights, booking tools and payment programs. The expo floor is organized into named zones: the AI & Innovation Pavilion, Independent Hotel Pavilion, Groups and Meetings Pavilion, New Entrant Pavilion, Destination Row, Sustainability Row, Reconnect Row and Government Row. Buyer Access+ paired travel buyers through Braindates (2026 program), and the GBTA Foundation Gala is part of the week. Buyers arrive with RFPs in mind, so a booth here works best as a meeting room with a strong demo screen.
A quiet seat to talk program rates, duty-of-care and policy compliance, with data they can take back to finance.
Clear pricing models, reporting dashboards and a short demo that shows savings, not just features.
Venue and group capabilities shown visually, with staff who can quote space and dates on the spot.
Your team in San Diego
Two shops, one project manager, every hall
We build in our own production shop in Fishkill, NY, and our Las Vegas hub, ship to the San Diego Convention Center, and install with our own project manager on the floor and vetted local labor. Predictable 30–45-day turnarounds, secure storage and pre-show QA.
Your team walks into a lit, stocked booth. You just show up.
02 Booths & pricing for GBTA Convention 2027
Popular booth sizes at GBTA Convention
GBTA sells space by the square foot, offers turnkey 10×10, 10×20 and 20×20 inserts, and runs its pavilions and rows as 10×10 turnkey booths. Hotel groups, airlines and travel management companies take larger islands. We recommend a 10×20 with a demo counter and meeting table, or a 20×20 island with an enclosed meeting room.
A demo counter with two screens, a seated meeting table for RFP talks and storage for staff and collateral.
Shown: XL-Bloom YoungPlants, a Purple inline booth
See 10×20 rental booths →
For a hotel or destination brand the bays split three ways: a demo screen facing the aisle, a warmly lit guest room finish and linen display, and a seated meeting area with acoustic panels.
Shown: Meghna Colour Chem, a Purple inline booth
See 10×30 rental booths →
An island with a closed meeting room, a lounge for buyer appointments and a hanging sign visible across the hall.
Shown: TileBar, a Purple island exhibit
See 20×20 rental booths →
A hotel or airline brand environment with a hospitality bar, several demo pods and two private meeting rooms.
Shown: ergoPouch, a Purple island exhibit
See 20×30 rental booths →In Purple's price
- Design and a 3D rendering, revised until it is right
- Structure, printed graphics, counters and storage as specified
- Lighting and power distribution inside the booth
- Installation and dismantle, with our project manager on the floor
- Every show-service order and deadline tracked for you
Billed by the show and its contractor
- Booth space (paid to the organizer)
- Material handling / drayage, where the space rate does not include it
- Electrical service, internet and rigging
- Booth cleaning and any union labor the venue requires
Rates to plan with for GBTA Convention:
- Booth space $57 to $65 per sq ft for members, $64 to $73 non-member, 2027 rates source
- Turnkey booth insert 10×10 $6,000; 10×20 $11,000; 20×20 $29,000, 2027 source
- Pavilion or row booth $9,000 for a 10×10 turnkey, 2027 source
- Drayage About $176 per cwt, 200 lb minimum, 2026–2027 planning rate
We estimate every one of these on your proposal, so the total is on paper before you sign.
Prices are all-in 2026 rental ranges for design, structure, graphics, installation and dismantle; custom builds are quoted per project. Get an exact number for GBTA Convention with the booth cost calculator or read the 2026 booth cost guide.
Send the show, your booth size and what the space needs to do. We reply within one business day and send a rendering and a fixed proposal, usually within a week. No charge.
03 Built by Purple
Booths we have designed, built and installed
Case study · Amazon
Amazon at ESSENCE Festival of Culture, New Orleans
Amazon’s first ESSENCE Festival activation: a walk-through environment that welcomed hundreds of thousands of attendees across Prime Video, Amazon Live and Alexa.
Different crowd, same goal: Amazon’s ESSENCE activation showed Prime Video, Amazon Live and Alexa to a moving crowd, and GBTA demo stations must hold a buyer for two minutes.
Read the Amazon case study All case studies →“Itzy and his team are the real deal. If you want to wow your potential customers at your next trade show, this is the team for you. They create the best custom and portable trade show exhibits by far.”
Sherri McManus, Corporate Training, The Lou Everett Group · more client reviews
Trusted by exhibitors including
04 Designing for business travel, hotel, airline and travel technology brands at GBTA Convention
Four things we get right for GBTA Convention exhibitors
1Give buyers a place to sit
Travel managers come to compare programs, not to browse. We build at least one seated meeting area into every footprint above 10×10, with acoustic panels, a screen for contract data and enough privacy for a conversation about rates and volumes.
2Make the demo fast and visible
Booking, expense and risk tools sell in a two-minute demo. We place screens at standing height facing the aisle, run power and wired internet to each station, and design the counter so a second buyer can watch while the first one asks questions.
Show the stay, not the brochure
Hotel and destination exhibitors win with materials buyers can touch: a guest room finish, a bed linen sample, a lobby image at full scale. We light those pieces warmly and keep printed rate cards in drawers, not on walls.
Plan for pavilion rules
Pavilion and row booths share a common look, so the brand has to read from your graphics and furniture. We work within the pavilion structure, add a branded counter front and lighting, and keep everything within the space's height and sightline rules.
Concept rendering
Every proposal comes with a rendering like this
You see the booth in 3D before we cut a single panel: layout, graphics, lighting and product positions, revised until it is right. Shown: a Purple concept for Laaj International.
Start my GBTA Convention concept05 San Diego Convention Center · San Diego
Logistics for GBTA Convention 2027, handled
The San Diego Convention Center runs a union floor, so installation and dismantling are union work under the show's contractor agreements. Halls A through H sit in one contiguous run along the bay, with the 90,000-square-foot Sails Pavilion and 184,514 square feet of bayside terraces for receptions. Downtown hotels fill early in summer, and the Marriott Marquis and Manchester Grand Hyatt are next door. We read the GBTA exhibitor kit, order electrical, internet and rigging, ship to the advance warehouse, and our project manager runs the union crew so your booth is ready before the expo opens.
Hall rules, drayage estimates and freight deadlines for this building are in our San Diego Convention Center exhibitor guide.
Hall guide
The San Diego Convention Center stretches along the downtown bayfront. These are the halls and event spaces this building uses for a show of GBTA's size; your contract sets your booth location.
525,701 square feet of contiguous exhibit space in one run along the bay, all on the same floor.
Our advice: Long sightlines favor a hanging sign over an island; we place it on the hall's rigging points and order the rigging early.
About 90,000 square feet under the building's sail-like roof, flexible for receptions and exhibits, with a 27-foot ceiling to the lighting encasement.
Our advice: If GBTA programs a reception here, we design a portable branded bar or backdrop that moves from your booth without new crates.
184,514 square feet of terrace space overlooking San Diego Bay, with an elevated observation deck at the midpoint, exposed to waterfront weather and wind.
Our advice: Hosting buyers outdoors means weighted bases and wind-rated graphics; we build those as a separate kit from the indoor booth.
What Purple handles
- GBTA exhibitor kit, contractor orders and freight targets
- Electrical, internet and rigging orders for demo stations
- Graphics printed in house and checked on screen and fabric
- Freight to the advance warehouse and drayage paperwork
- Union installation and dismantle run by your Purple project manager
Timeline, counted back from move-in
Lowest GBTA space rate ends ($57 per sq ft for members): October 30, 2026. After October 30 the member rate rises to $59 per square foot, then steps up four more times to $65; send us your footprint goal before then.
We need design sign-off by late May 2027.
- Late May 2027Design sign-off, about 10 weeks before opening; demo stations and meeting room layout agreed.
- June 2027Production in Fishkill, NY; demo screens, graphics and furniture tested together.
- About 3 weeks before openingBooth crates ship to the advance warehouse in San Diego.
- Move-in days before August 2Our project manager supervises the union installation and runs the pre-show checklist.
- August 2–4, 2027Convention and expo days; a Purple project manager stays on call for the whole run.
- After the expo closesDismantle, demo hardware packed to your return plan, booth to storage or the next show.
Purple planning timeline. Official move-in, freight target and order deadlines come from your exhibitor kit and assigned schedule; we confirm them against your booth when you book.
Printable budget & deadline sheetGBTA Convention exhibitor questions
Questions exhibitors ask us before GBTA Convention
How much does a booth at GBTA Convention 2027 cost?
Our booth builds start at $3,500 for a 10×10 rental, run $7,500 to $15,000 for a 10×20 rental and $50,000 to $120,000 for a custom 20×20 island. At GBTA a closed meeting room, demo screens and a hanging sign move the number most. Space is billed by GBTA per square foot and show services by the contractor, on top of our fixed proposal.
What is the deadline to book booth space for GBTA Convention 2027?
GBTA's space rate rises at five dates: October 30, 2026, January 8, March 19, May 2 and June 7, 2027. A member pays $57 per square foot by October 30 and $65 at the standard rate. For the booth itself, we need design sign-off by late May 2027.
Can we rent a booth for GBTA Convention, and what does a rental include?
Yes. A rental includes the frame, your printed graphics, lighting, a demo counter with screen mounts, meeting furniture, shipping, install and dismantle. Travel tech companies often rent the structure and own the graphics and counters, so the branded pieces travel to IPW or HITEC later in the year.
Should we take a GBTA pavilion booth or build our own?
Pavilion and row booths are 10×10 turnkey units at $9,000, with stools, a locked cabinet, electrical and a listing. They share a common look, so your brand reads only through graphics. If you want a closed meeting space or your own demo wall, raw space with a Purple booth gives you that control.
Can we set up our own booth at the San Diego Convention Center?
The center runs a union floor, and installation and dismantling are union work under the official contractor's labor agreements, so a booth with structure, power or rigging goes up with the union crew. We file as your exhibitor-appointed contractor, and our project manager directs the crew, signs the labor tickets and hands you a lit, tested booth.
What does drayage cost at GBTA Convention and who pays it?
Drayage is billed to you by the show contractor, by weight. Our venue guide plans San Diego at about $176 per hundredweight for 2026 and 2027, with a 200-pound minimum, and the GBTA kit carries the exact tariff. We build light, ship one crated load to the advance warehouse and list the estimate on the proposal.
Can we reuse the booth at other shows?
Yes. Hotel, destination and travel technology brands carry the same kit to IPW in New Orleans, HITEC in Orlando and Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami Beach. We build in aluminum frame and fabric graphics, store the booth between shows and reprint only the messages that change for each audience.
We are exhibiting from outside the US. Can you help at GBTA?
GBTA Convention 2026 drew attendees from 47 countries. We handle the US side: design, build in Fishkill, freight to the San Diego advance warehouse, union install, dismantle and storage between shows. Your team flies in to a finished, lit booth with the demo stations already tested.
Before you sign with anyone
Five questions to ask any exhibit builder for GBTA Convention:
- Is every fee on the proposal, including what the show contractor bills?
- Who builds the booth: your own shop or a subcontractor?
- Will your project manager be on the floor for install and dismantle?
- What exactly is in the rental, and what is billed by the show?
- Where does the booth go after the show, and what does storage cost?
Common situations
Already own a booth? We refresh the graphics, repair what is worn, ship it, install it and store it between shows. You keep the structure you paid for.
Exhibiting from outside the US? We are your team on the ground: freight to the advance warehouse, show-service orders, installation and storage, with one project manager answering your emails in your time zone.
Short on time? A rental with your graphics can be ready in two to three weeks. We tell you on the first call what is realistic for your date.
Get a proposal
Tell us about your GBTA Convention booth
What happens next
- We reply within one business day with questions about your products, goals and footprint.
- You get a concept rendering and a fixed proposal, usually within a week. Every last fee listed upfront, in full, on paper.
- We build in 30–45 days, ship to the advance warehouse and install before the hall opens.
