A convention center, in American English, is an exhibition hall, or conference center, that is designed to hold a convention. In British English very large venues suitable for major trade shows are known as exhibition centres while the term "convention centre" is sometimes used for intermediate venues between exhibitions centres and "conference centres", which are much smaller and contain lecture halls and meeting rooms.

Convention centers are typically large, cavernous public buildings with enough open space to host public and private business and social events for their surrounding municipal and metropolitan areas. Convention centers typically offer enough floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees. Convention centers rent space for meetings such as: corporate conferences, industry trade shows, formal dances entertainment spectacles and concerts. The largest in the United States is McCormick Place in Chicago. Large convention centers located in resort areas also host conventions that attract additional visitors to the municipality. It is not uncommon for large resort area hotels to include a convention center.