(Washington, DC)…The Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation (WCTC) is launching a $600,000 consumer marketing campaign to motivate travel to the city during the important summer tourism season. The "Summer FREEdom Savings" promotion will run Memorial Day through Labor Day and combines fun, family-friendly summer events, new attractions and exhibitions along with hotel packages starting at just $109 per night.

The campaign urges visitors to "Discover the DC you want to see" and provides an insider's guide to exploring different themes throughout the nation's capital including: the city's neighborhoods and local flavor, museums and memorials, festivals and performances as well as parks, gardens and water activities. A custom website (washington.org/summerfreedom) and 65,000 brochures were created to promote the events, tours and offers.

"DC offers so many amazing experiences that it can be overwhelming for visitors," said William A. Hanbury, president and CEO of WCTC. "Our promotion offers travelers great value and the inside scoop on how to get the most out of their getaway to DC." For example, the city offers free nightly performances virtually every night of the summer - from Tuesday evenings' Sunset Parade at the Marine Barracks on Capitol Hill to Jazz in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art on Friday evenings.

More than 70 area hotels are participating in the promotion. All guests who book a Summer FREEdom Savings package at any participating hotel will receive a complimentary travel journal for recording their trip memories as well as two tickets to ride the DC Circulator bus. Each participating hotel adds its own selection of perks. Family travelers that book the Hotel Palomar's "Link in Luxury" package can book an adjoining room for just $50 when they book a room at the standard rate. At the Georgetown Suites, guests enjoy a spacious suite with a kitchen, complimentary continental breakfast, parking, and wireless Internet, starting at just $125 per night. For a terrific luxury value, the Sofitel Lafayette Square's "Freedom" package includes complimentary parking or breakfast for two, a room upgrade, a souvenir welcome amenity, two Tourmobile sightseeing tickets and a leisurely 2 pm checkout, starting at $275 per night. Packages are available exclusively online at Washington.org or by calling 1-800-422-8644.

Summer visitors can also take advantage of a host of new exhibitions and attractions. On June 1, the International Spy Museum launches Operation Spy, an interactive adventure that allows visitors to play a role in a realistic intelligence case, acting quickly and decisively to derail a terrorist plot. The Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Art plays host to a major exhibition chronicling the journeys and discoveries of Portuguese explorers, running June 20-Sept. 16. Students and presidential history buffs won't want to miss the National Archives' new exhibition, School House to White House, showing the men who would grow up to be presidents in their classroom days (on view through Jan.1, 2008).

Theatre fans can look forward to the return of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Shakespeare Free-For-All, a two-week series of free outdoor performances, held at Rock Creek Park's Carter Barron Amphitheatre. Catch this summer's production, "Love's Labour's Lost," from May 24-June 3. For fans of edgier performances, the Capital Fringe Festival returns for its second year July 19-29, with more than 200 innovative and often indescribable performances. Or, check out the DC Hip Hop Theatre Festival, running July 9-14.

The $600,000 advertising and promotional plan includes a mix of magazine, newspaper, interactive and transit media and will deliver in excess of 30 million impressions. Full page ads will appear in Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, Travel + Leisure, and American Legacy. Quarter-page ads will appear in The New York Times, USA Today and travel sections in newspapers in Raleigh, Philadelphia and Richmond. The promotion will be advertised online and through email marketing with google, yahoo and msn as well as TripAdvisor, ShermansTravel, lonelyplanet and nytimes.com. Through a promotional partnership with Metro, the campaign will also include advertising on exterior buses, interior buses, interior rail cards as well as in-station posters and dioramas.

For a complete guide to summer events and hotel offers, log on to washington.org/summerfreedom.