America’s 250th birthday is next year and D.C.’s tourism marketing organization is making plans for an influx of visitors coming to the city to celebrate the occasion.
“America’s 250th has the potential to be really good for Washington next year, simply because it’s yet another reason to visit the city and take advantage of things happening,” said Elliott Ferguson, Destination DC’s president and CEO.
Ferguson said the city will be planning for the yearlong celebration in 2026 alongside the federal government, but emphasized there will be D.C. specific components that they are planning with “75 partners.”
“The city of Washington, like … Philadelphia and Boston, we’re going to also do things that are specific to our community,” Ferguson said.
Even though D.C. had not been founded in 1776 at the birth to the country, Ferguson pointed to the obvious connection to the founding, even the housing of the Declaration of Independence in the National Archives.
The city will have programming that will discuss the country’s racial history, Ferguson said during Destination DC’s Marketing Outlook Meeting last week.
“We know that as the Declaration of Independence was written and saying that all men were created equal … we know that was not the case,” Ferguson said.
Destination DC will use the 250th anniversary as an opportunity to showcase and celebrate all of the things that happened in the District 250 years ago, and elements about the fight for equality through the centuries.
One of the programs that Destination DC its highlighting for the anniversary is “51 Steps to Freedom,” an outdoor museum telling stories through an augmented reality trail.
“It ties into the history of the Black community in Washington, D.C. across eight miles and 300 stories,” Ferguson said.
Stories will include an AI augmented reality of jazz singer Billie Holiday that stands in front of the Howard Theater and describes performing there. Visitors will also be able to see the smartphone-based augmented reality at the Frederick Douglass home in Anacostia.
The District is also expected to see numerous new attractions opening in 2026. The National Geographic Museum of Exploration is expected to open as well as a Lincoln Memorial Museum located underneath the feet of the 16th President.
While the semiquincentennial is expected to bring more visitors to the District, a forecast performed by Destination DC shows an expected 1.3% growth in visitors, the amount of money coming into the city through tourism is expected to decrease.
The RevPAR (revenue per available hotel room) is expected to take a nearly 2% hit next year, which could be explained by a downturn in international travelers to D.C. who typically spend far more money in the city than domestic visitors.
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