EW is currently touring various locations in the USA, and editor Tom Hall found that Washington DC is re-inventing itself for the MICE market.
Being America’s centre for politics is a double-edged sword when it comes to marketing yourself as a destination. On the one hand, MICE groups are attracted to the historically drenched institutions, museums and statues of Washington DC, but on the other, there’s a risk that your edgier, vibrant side is ignored.
“We have a reputation for being very traditional and people often associate us with Congress and the mechanisms of government. However, there’s a vibrant, hip and fun side to the city that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves,” Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC (pictured) tells EW.
“Like New York and London, Washington has an edgier side, with districts that embrace alternative lifestyles,” he adds.
A provocative advertising campaign by Destination DC was cleverly designed to draw attention to the city’s underexposed fun side, featuring LGBT couples frolicking and hipsters walking the streets.
The campaign is clearly paying off, Ferguson says. “The year’s been good for us. Conventions are popular and steady, and next year we think we’ll have the best year since 2005. That is partly down to a new venue, the New Marriott Marquis (pictured below), which opened two years ago. Now we’re realising some larger conventions are interested.”
The 1,175-room Marriott Marquis Washington, DC opened next to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in May 2014.
“We’ve had a huge increase in the corporate market segment, which is not one we focused on so much before, but the Marquee really helps us achieve more short term opportunities so we can spread wealth throughout the city,” Ferguson notes.
For the last eight years Destination DC has focused on international conventions and the process is much different, he adds. “We have so many not-for-profit and associations headquartered here. There’s a plethora of opportunities. The effort remains on domestic, but we’re looking for international opportunities and just had our best ever year for international markets. Our community embraces both the leisure and business markets now.”
DC’s multicultural, vibrant scene is shown in its statistics. Its population is 49% African American (compared to 13% of US population) and 10% Hispanic/Latino (compared to 17% of US population). Meanwhile, 18% of the Washington DC population is under the age of 18 and its median household income is $69,235.
DC welcomed a record 20.2m visitors in 2014, generating an estimated $6.8bn in visitor spending for the city alone. In 2015, DC hosted 1,027 conventions, meetings and tradeshows, including 57 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. These meetings attracted nearly a million attendees, generating 945,972 hotel room nights.
Top countries of visitor origin include: China, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, India, South Korea, Brazil, Japan and Italy. There are approximately 126 properties with 30,665 hotel rooms located in Washington, DC and the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area is home to 686 properties with 110,227 rooms.
MICE visitors seeking tradition and cultural richness can reap the rewards of DC.
