Find out where DC has been in the news this month and what's new with the marketing team.
Destination DC's (DDC) marketing and communications strategy supports economic development through tourism by reaching potential visitors and inspiring them to travel to the nation’s capital. The current cross-channel promotional efforts are focused on fall travel across editorial and content development.
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Media Coverage
Domestic
Elliott is quoted in The Washington Post about DC’s post-pandemic recovery and spoke with FOX 5 about the U.S. Open sponsorship. Travel + Leisure named DC one of the 15 best places in the world to visit this December and reported on José Andrés’s plans for a Georgetown hotel. Glamour ranked DC among the top 25 best solo trips for women. Garden & Gun spotlights the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, while GayCities makes DC its destination of the month and highlights WorldPride 2025. Axios recognized 13 members in its roundup of fall festivals and Forbes heaps praise on DC’s dining scene.
International
The People’s House opening generated over 200 placements in the Germany market with an ad value of $1.2 million. India highlighted DC’s robust arts and culture in multiple publications like India Blooms, CurlyTales and TourismQuest. Two inflight magazines from Australia and New Zealand, Kia Ora and Qantas Magazine, featured various arts and culture hot spots. CNN Viagem & Gastronomia and several other Brazilian publications covered the new OSGEMEOS exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum. Brazil’s O Globo featured DC as a monumental destination to visit ahead of the elections and Mexico’s Donde Ir highlighted new attractions in the nation’s capital.
Trade
Coverage included record visitation announced at DDC's Marketing Outlook Meeting and the Collective Advisory experience in articles from Northstar, Boardroom and USAE. Conference and Meetings World and Meetings Today highlighted DDC’s “Connected” positioning. More than 40 hotels, venues and attractions were featured in the Washington, DC location report for Mid-Atlantic Meetings and Events.
Marketing Highlights
Timely content marketing strategy paying off
As part of an effort to engage consumers before and during the 30-60 day booking windows, optimize paid social and connect more content with future seasonal campaigns, the content team began publishing "Things to Do" by month articles this summer up to four months in advance. The tactic led to thousands of sessions on washington.org that the site wasn't previously earning and will continue as results have shown how the event-focused content is a valuable resource for planning trips.
Content-filled hub coming to washington.org
In an effort to increase user engagement and better-present the website's inspirational content, DDC will launch "The District Blog" in November. The blog landing page will serve as a multimedia-rich content hub where users can more easily interact with washington.org content, from filtering by tags to scrolling through featured, trending and new articles to watching social videos. The team expects The District Blog to drive a 15% increase in editorial pageviews, a 5% increase in sitewide average engagement time and a top-10 pageview ranking.
Social Highlights
Leisure Social
In September, we shared an exciting recap of the DC JazzFest with Brian Oliver, spotlighted Black Broadway Tours with Anela Malik and promoted TheatreWashington’s Theater Week Kickoff Fest, showcasing the best of DC’s theater scene. We also collaborated with IGLTA on a 3-day itinerary in preparation for WorldPride 2025 and featured the best things to do this fall in the District. Finally, we highlighted the newest exhibit at ARTECHOUSE, Twilight Zone: Hidden Wonders of the Ocean—a must-see for ocean lovers and art enthusiasts alike. Popular posts included a peek inside the Renwick Gallery, pastel views of the city and a peaceful cruise through Rock Creek Park.
Industry Social
Industry channels honored 9/11 and World Tourism Day. Staff highlights included a photo dump from this summer’s conferences, congratulating our Employee of the Quarter and celebrating our Sept. milestone anniversaries, plus recaps of Marketing Outlook Meeting and Collective events. Member Spotlights featured Chopt and Dos Toros, American University Conferences, the Smithsonian Zoo, National Press Club, the Freedom Forum, Steadfast Supply and the Lego Discovery Center.
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