Tourism on the upswing in Baltimore
Baltimore’s tourism industry, badly battered by pandemic shutdowns, is gaining ground, tourism officials said Thursday.
Though visitation has not returned to pre-pandemic levels and the tourism sector remains in recovery, the city is poised to emerge as an urban retreat, industry leaders said during Visit Baltimore’s annual meeting, held this year in person at the Horseshoe Casino.
Officials said they see new opportunities ahead thanks to several planned developments and investments, recently formed key partnerships and advertising campaigns aimed at elevating the city’s profile and showcasing a more diverse sector of its people and neighborhoods.
“The reality is this past year was a year of adaptability, adjusting to issues caused by the pandemic,” said Al Hutchinson, Visit Baltimore’s president and CEO.
“We are still in a post-pandemic recovery phase. Don’t fool yourself, we continue to face challenges,” such as labor shortages, high gas prices, rising inflation, social injustice and the rise in gun violence across the country, he said. “Looking towards recovery it is important to note that tourism in Baltimore is improving, but we have a ways to go.”
In fiscal year 2022, which ended in July, hotel tax collections fell more than 61% from fiscal year 2020, which ended in July of that year, Visit Baltimore said in an annual report released Thursday.
But in 2021, domestic travel to Baltimore jumped by 13.3%, bringing 24.3 million people to the city for overnight and day trips and contributing $2.7 billion to the city’s economy, the report said. Though the pandemic has led to hotel closures, new facilities are coming. Three hotels with nearly 400 rooms are expected to open between this month and March 2025, including 256 new rooms under construction.
The tourism agency said business has rebounded as well at the Baltimore Convention Center, with events last year generating $90 million in economic impact.
To address ongoing workforce challenges, convention and tourism officials said they are focused on building a sustainable pipeline for new talent in the industry.
Officials touted the past fiscal year’s achievements, including the return in February of the CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament, which came to Baltimore after more than a decade in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has selected Baltimore as its host city through February 2025.
Tourism officials also helped secure events such as the Maryland Cycling Classic, held last month, the 2025 Army-Navy football game and the 2028 and 2032 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Top convention center bookings secured in 2022 include the American Health Information Management Association, which is expected to bring 3,500 attendees to an annual convention next year, filling more than 10,000 hotel room nights; 3STep Sports, bringing 4,000 people and booking 6,200 room nights for volleyball each of the next three years; and the National Minority Supplier Development Council for a 6,000person conference next year.
“We are proving once again that Baltimore is a place where people choose to visit and that they will take all that we have to offer,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who helped kick off Visit Baltimore’s event.
He said the tourism agency has led “a hospitality and tourism recovery and played a key role in the renaissance that is taking place in Baltimore right before our own eyes.”
During Thursday’s event, a panel of business leaders and developers offered updates on projects that are expected to help attract both local and out-of-town visitors.
They include the soon-to-open, redeveloped Lexington Market, the Warner Street Entertainment District, where Topgolf Baltimore is set to open within the next month near the Horseshoe Casino and M&T Bank Stadium and Paramount Baltimore Music Venue is under construction, and Port Covington, the mixed-use waterfront project in South Baltimore where 1 million square feet of apartments, offices, shops and restaurants will begin opening next year.