DC conventions reach record levels
The Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation (WCTC) posted the strongest performance figures in its history.
WCTB, the official destination marketing organization for the District of Columbia, is a private, non-profit organization of nearly 1,000 businesses.
“Travel and tourism is a $5.24 billion business for the District and WCTC is a powerful force in creating and facilitating new meetings and leisure business for this city every single day,” said Dan Mesches, current chairman of WCTC and President and CEO of Star Restaurant Group.
During its fiscal year, WCTC staff booked meetings into the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and throughout the city that will generate more than 1.2 million hotel room nights representing $1.1 billion in direct spending by attendees. Combined with prior years’ efforts, WCTC has racked up more than 3.6 million room nights for future years representing $2.4 billion in direct spending.
In 2008, 18 citywide conventions will take place at the convention center, including lucrative meetings for the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Physicians.
According to LiveStats web tracking service, WCTC increased visitation to DC’s official tourism website, Washington.org, by 20% – generating nearly 6 million visits. More than 16,000 hotel rooms were booked as part of travel packages on the website, packages booked on Washington.org alone generated nearly $9.6 million in spending throughout the city on hotels, restaurants, entertainment, transportation and shopping.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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