Washington, D.C., saw its highest number of visitors ever last year as tourism rebounded from a steep pandemic-era decline, the city’s marketing department announced Wednesday.
A new report from Destination DC estimates that about 26 million people will visit the District in 2023, up from 22.1 million in 2022. The 2023 figures mark a nearly doubling of tourism numbers from a low in 2020, when 13.3 million people visited the nation’s capital during a time of COVID-related closures and travel restrictions.
The previous record was set in 2019, when 25.1 million people attended.
According to the report, about 24 million of the visitors last year were domestic travelers and 1.95 million were international travelers. By 2022, there will be about 20.7 million domestic travelers and 1.4 million international travelers.
Elliot L. Ferguson II, president and CEO of Destination DC, said the city is especially focused on attracting international tourists because they play a big role in revitalizing the local economy. Foreigners make up 7 percent of the city’s visitors but 27 percent of their spending, according to a previous report from the marketing group. “Internationals stay longer, they spend more, and we want them to come back,” Ferguson said at a press conference Wednesday.
“This increase in visitation is no coincidence, but the result of a very concerted effort,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (Democrat) said at a press conference. She noted that visitors generated $10.2 billion in spending and supported more than 102,000 jobs, according to a Destination DC report.
The recovery comes as city officials and residents worry about rising crime in recent years and high retail vacancies due to changing work patterns.
A Washington Post-Schar School poll found residents feel more worried about safety now than they did a year ago, and city data shows violent crime is expected to increase 21% between 2021 and 2023 before declining in early 2024.
The same survey found that many residents are choosing to work from home, resulting in a flood of vacant office space in Downtown DC and causing some employers to vacate. According to the Downtown DC Business Improvement District, the vacancy rate for downtown office space is just over 21 percent, and one projection puts it at 27 percent in three years. The empty storefronts are a stark illustration of the challenges the city faces as it rebuilds its economy.
But Bowser said the future is bright for the city. “When you come to Washington, D.C., you can expect to see more new hotels, more restaurants, and even more large events and gatherings,” he said Wednesday.
