Washington set new records with 25.95 million tourists and $10.2 billion in visitor revenue last year, the city’s tourism bureau reported Wednesday.
Destination DC said the number of tourists in 2023 rose 17% from 22.1 million in 2022 and passed the pre-pandemic record of 25.1 million tourists set in 2019. Of last year’s visitors to the nation’s capital, 24 million were domestic tourists.
Officials with Destination DC estimated that tourist spending last year supported a record-high 102,366 local jobs. They chalked up the rebounding travel numbers to recent increases in city funding for marketing and sales.
“There is still work to do, however, since international travel hasn’t fully recovered,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC. “The additional funding allows us to continue to entice international visitors who stay longer and spend more.”
While domestic visitation has “fully rebounded” to 105% of 2019 figures, the tourism bureau noted that last year’s total of 1.95 million international visitors was just 85% of the pre-pandemic total.
Year-over-year, international tourism rose by about 40% in 2023 from 1.4 million visitors in 2022. All tourists spent 29% more in the city last year than in 2022.
Mayor Muriel Bowser credited the marketing work of Destination DC and local businesses for the increases.
“We are proud to show millions of visitors every year why Washington, D.C.,m is the most important city in the world,” said Mayor Bowser, a third-term Democrat. “Tourism is critical to our city’s vitality, yielding jobs for our residents, dollars for our local businesses, and revenue for our investments in a stronger D.C.”
In November, Destination DC launched a roughly $20 million marketing campaign titled “There’s Only One DC”. The campaign aimed to help local businesses overcome the city’s slow travel recovery.
On Wednesday, the tourism bureau said the campaign had reached a record number of people by “positioning D.C. as wholly unique and spotlighting its diversity of experiences and free things to do.”
Videos and images in the campaign include scenic views of people enjoying the Library of Congress, Rock Creek Park, the Kennedy Center and Ben’s Chili Bowl, a restaurant in the historic U Street Corridor. Digital ads redirect visitors to a website with travel deals, event listings, dining options and a place to book hotel rooms directly.
Domestic advertising for the campaign has targeted Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and other major cities. Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, South Korea and the UK.
“Discover a diverse and vibrant city with more than 100 free things to do, exciting arts and culture, an acclaimed dining scene and so much more,” the campaign website proclaims.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.