San Jose – The Nvidia AI conference in downtown San Jose sparked an “unprecedented” economic boom in the form of a wave of visitors who have strengthened a range of merchants through the city’s urban nucleus.
Hotels and restaurants were supported by the influx of visitors to the NVIDI 2025 GTC conference for several days in March, according to a new report published by the San Jose Downtown Association.
“The pedestrian traffic of visitors and expenses have skyrocketed during the one -week event, which brought together thousands of world leaders and innovators in artificial intelligence,” said the Downtown association in its report.
The event has helped define new references for the San Jose tourism and hotel sectors, according to the association.
The Downtown Association used a location platform called to place. To assess the increase in pedestrian traffic in the central affairs district of San Jose.
The report compared the impact of the NVIDIA conference in 2025 to the results of the collection of NVIDIA GTC 2024, which also took place in March.
Among the main conclusions of the evaluation of the impact of this year’s Nvidia event compared to 2024:
– Total visitors in downtown San Jose jumped 29%.
– The use of the hotel has climbed 47%.
–The statement visits exploded by more than 132%, which would be much more than double the figure of 2024.
“This year’s GTC has changed the game for the city center,” said Alex Stettinski, managing director of San Jose Downtown Association. “This proves the will of San Jose to host global events with high impact.”
Here are some other details that sketch the jump in economic activity due to this year’s Nvidia event.
– Hotel visits totaled around 29,900 in 2025 with 20,400 visits of this type in 2024, which resulted in an increase of 47%.
– Center-city restaurants experienced around 13,200 visits to 5,700 last year. This jump points to a “prosperous food scene and an improvement in the city’s walking,” said the association.
– The NVIDIA GTC 2025 conference attracted participants from 794 postal codes, including 496 outside California. This is equivalent to an increase of 126% of the participation outside the state compared to 2024.
– About 25,300 people attended the NVIDIA GTC 2025 conference, up 29.7% compared to the 19,500 who attended the conference in 2024.
The increase arrives at a time when San Jose is preparing to help organize a range of mega events in 2026. Events include the Super Bowl, several games from the FIFA World Cup 2026 World Cup and one of the cycles of the NCAA university basketball tournament.
“The city center of San Jose stands out as a world-class event destination,” said Stettinski.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
