Washington, DC welcomed 27.2 million visitors in 2024, including 25 million domestic visitors and 2.2 million international visitors. The city’s visitor economy generated a record $11.4 billion in spending, supported 111,500 jobs, and produced an 80% downtown hotel occupancy rate. These figures come from Destination DC’s 2024 Annual Visitor Statistics, with historical spending comparisons also reported by Destination DC’s 2023 Annual Visitor Statistics.
Contents
- 2024 visitor and spending snapshot
- Hospitality’s economic contribution
- Downtown hotel performance
- Where visitor spending goes
- Domestic and international source markets
- Spending recovery over time
2024 visitor and spending snapshot
Destination DC reported 27.2 million total visitors to Washington, DC in 2024. Domestic visitors accounted for 25 million of that total, while international visitors numbered 2.2 million. The two reported visitor segments do not sum exactly to the rounded total, so each figure should be treated at the precision supplied by the source.
The 2024 mix also represented year-over-year growth. Domestic visitation was 4% above 2023, and international visitation was 10% above 2023. Total visitor spending reached a record $11.4 billion. Destination DC also reported $2.3 billion in visitor tax revenue, 11% above 2023.
Several per-visitor measures show the scale of the economic activity associated with the destination:
- Each DC visitor generated about $419 in expenditures in 2024.
- Each visitor generated $231 in wages.
- Each visitor generated about $85 in tax receipts.
- Every 243 visitors created one new job in Washington, DC.
These are destination-wide measures from the Destination DC 2024 Annual Visitor Statistics, not spending estimates for an individual hotel guest or restaurant customer. For hospitality businesses, they provide context for the size of the visitor market that flows through lodging, food and beverage, entertainment, shopping, and transportation.
Hospitality’s economic contribution
Travel and tourism supported 111,500 jobs in Washington, DC in 2024, up 8% from the prior year. Those jobs supported $6.3 billion in wages. Destination DC reported that travel and tourism would rank as the second-largest private industry in the District if it stood alone, and that the sector represented 17.6% of the private workforce.
The tax contribution was also substantial. Destination DC estimated that, without tourism, each of DC’s 348,773 households would need to generate $3,634 in local taxes to keep tax receipts flat. This comparison describes the fiscal role of visitor activity across the District rather than a direct household charge.
For restaurants and other hospitality operators, the employment figures matter because visitor demand supports a broad service ecosystem. The source’s $6.3 billion wage figure covers travel and tourism jobs collectively; it does not break wages into restaurant, hotel, attraction, retail, or transportation categories. It nevertheless places food-service demand within a much larger visitor-supported labor market.
The sector’s reported growth in 2024 coincided with higher visitation, stronger international travel, and record visitor spending. The combination gives a useful operating context for businesses serving both overnight guests and day visitors, especially in central business districts where several visitor spending categories overlap.
Downtown hotel performance
Downtown Washington hotel performance improved sharply from the disruption shown in the historical series. Destination DC reported 2024 downtown hotel average daily rate (ADR) of $262 and occupancy of 80. The source lists occupancy as whole-number values; it does not attach a percent sign in the supplied series, but occupancy is presented as a rate.
| Year | Downtown hotel ADR | Downtown hotel occupancy |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $226 | 77 |
| 2020 | $172 | 30 |
| 2021 | $171 | 41 |
| 2022 | $242 | 70 |
| 2023 | $255 | 80 |
| 2024 | $262 | 80 |
The 2024 ADR was $7 higher than in 2023, while the reported occupancy held at 80. Compared with 2019, the 2024 ADR was higher by $36 and the reported occupancy was three points higher. The series also shows the steepest disruption in 2020, when ADR was $172 and occupancy was 30, followed by 2021 ADR of $171 and occupancy of 41.
Destination DC’s longer historical series supplies additional pre- and post-disruption context. Downtown ADR was $221 in 2018, $234 in 2017, $224 in 2016, and $216 in 2015. Reported occupancy was 78 in 2018, 79 in 2017, 78 in 2016, and 77 in 2015. In 2019, ADR rose to $226 and occupancy was 77.
The hotel figures describe downtown lodging performance, not every property or neighborhood in the District. A restaurant near downtown hotels may encounter a different customer mix from one serving a residential neighborhood, but the downtown series is a useful indicator of lodging conditions in a major visitor concentration.
Where visitor spending goes
In Washington, DC’s central business district, lodging was the largest reported visitor-spending category in 2024, accounting for 40% of spending and totaling $4.6 billion. Food and beverage accounted for 27%, or $3.1 billion. Together, lodging and food and beverage represented most of the reported CBD visitor spending.
The remaining categories were entertainment at 14% and $1.6 billion, shopping at 13% and $1.5 billion, and transportation at 6% and $656 million. Destination DC reported the following comparison:
| CBD visitor spending category, 2024 | Share | Spending |
|---|---|---|
| Lodging | 40% | $4.6 billion |
| Food and beverage | 27% | $3.1 billion |
| Entertainment | 14% | $1.6 billion |
| Shopping | 13% | $1.5 billion |
| Transportation | 6% | $656 million |
The food-and-beverage figure is particularly relevant to bistros and other dining businesses. It measures visitor spending across the CBD category, rather than revenue for a specific restaurant or a forecast for an individual concept. Still, the $3.1 billion total indicates that dining is a major part of the visitor economy alongside hotel stays.
The reported CBD visitor tax totals reinforce the scale of this activity. Local tax revenue from visitors totaled $1,267,533,307 in 2024, while federal tax revenue totaled $1,049,511,392. Combined DC CBD visitor tax revenue was reported at $2.31 billion, 10.5% above 2023.
Domestic and international source markets
New York City was Washington, DC’s top domestic market in 2024, supplying 10.8% of domestic visitors. Philadelphia supplied 7.9%, Washington, DC residents accounted for 6.5%, Norfolk supplied 3.9%, and Baltimore supplied 3.4%.
Other leading domestic markets in the Destination DC 2024 Annual Visitor Statistics were Boston at 3.2%, Atlanta at 3.0%, Raleigh at 2.6%, and Harrisburg at 2.2% of domestic visitors. The percentages are market shares, so they describe the distribution of domestic visitation rather than the number of visitors from each place.
The listed international markets were measured in visitors. Canada supplied 258,000 international visitors in 2024, followed by the United Kingdom with 195,000, India with 191,000, Germany with 136,000, and China with 108,000. France supplied 98,000, South Korea 93,000, Mexico 88,000, Italy 71,000, and Spain 66,000.
| Market | 2024 international visitors |
|---|---|
| Canada | 258K |
| United Kingdom | 195K |
| India | 191K |
| Germany | 136K |
| China | 108K |
| France | 98K |
| South Korea | 93K |
| Mexico | 88K |
| Italy | 71K |
| Spain | 66K |
The market data helps explain why hospitality demand can vary by season, event calendar, and customer purpose. The source identifies the leading markets but does not provide trip length, party size, or restaurant-specific spending for each origin, so those characteristics should not be inferred from the market totals alone.
Spending recovery over time
Destination DC’s historical spending series separates domestic and international visitor spending. In 2024, domestic visitor spending was $10.2 billion and international visitor spending was $3.1 billion. The corresponding 2023 figures were $7.7 billion domestic and $2.5 billion international.
| Year | Domestic visitor spending | International visitor spending |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $5.9 billion | $3.1 billion |
| 2020 | $3.2 billion | $0.5 billion |
| 2021 | $4.6 billion | $0.3 billion |
| 2022 | $6.2 billion | $1.7 billion |
| 2023 | $7.7 billion | $2.5 billion |
| 2024 | $10.2 billion | $3.1 billion |
The series shows international spending at $3.1 billion in both 2019 and 2024, while domestic spending was $10.2 billion in 2024 compared with $5.9 billion in 2019. It also records the lowest international figure in 2021 at $0.3 billion and the lowest domestic figure in 2020 at $3.2 billion.
Total visitation provides another historical reference point. Destination DC’s 2023 Annual Visitor Statistics reported 26.0 million visitors in 2023 and 24.8 million in 2018. The 2024 total of 27.2 million therefore sits above both of those reported totals, while the spending figures show how domestic and international segments contributed differently across the years.
For Washington, DC hospitality businesses, the most actionable reading is the breadth of the recovery: lodging reached an 80 reported occupancy rate downtown, food and beverage represented 27% of CBD visitor spending, and both domestic and international spending were higher in 2024 than in 2023. These measurements describe the destination as a whole and should be used as market context alongside a property’s own sales, occupancy, and customer data.