Tourism District Opening
Welcome visitors to a city where leisure drives the economy.
In Washington, D.C., the concept of a tourism district opening is not a formal event but reflects the city's long-standing role as a top destination. As of 2022, the city hosted an estimated 20.7 million domestic and 1.2 million international visitors, the seventh-most among U.S. cities. The city is home to many national monuments and museums, located most prominently on or around the National Mall, including the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument. It hosts 177 foreign embassies and the global headquarters of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States, and other international organizations. Home to many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks, the city is known as a lobbying hub, which is centered on and around K Street.
- Primary Focus
- Economic Diversification
- Associated Mechanic
- Tourist Attractions & Commercial Zones
- Key DLC Association
- Parklife / Green Cities
- Impact
- Increased Tax Revenue, Traffic Congestion Risks
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
The lore of tourism in Washington, D.C., is defined by its role as the seat of the U.S. federal government. The city hosts buildings that house federal government headquarters, including the White House, U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court Building, and multiple federal departments and agencies. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the city is split into quadrants that meet at the Capitol Building, with 131 neighborhoods overall. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 689,545. During the workweek, commuters from the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs increase the city's daytime population to more than one million. The Washington metropolitan area, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area, with a 2023 population of 6.3 million residents. A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed the district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents do not have voting representation in Congress, but elect a single non-voting congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment, passed in 1961.
In Their Own Story
The morning sun glinted off the glass facade of the newly opened convention center. Buses idled at the curb, disgorging travelers in bright colors who checked maps and raised cameras. The city hummed with a different energy today; it was no longer just a place to work, but a destination to experience.
Reader's Guide
The process of attracting tourism in Washington, D.C., began with its founding. On July 9, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved creating a national capital on the Potomac River. Under the Residence Act, the exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, who signed the bill into law on July 16, 1790. Formed from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km2). Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, founded in 1751, and the port city of Alexandria, Virginia, founded in 1749. In 1791 and 1792, a team led by Andrew Ellicott, including Ellicott's brothers Joseph and Benjamin and African American astronomer Benjamin Banneker, whose parents had been enslaved, surveyed the borders of the federal district and placed boundary stones at every mile point; many of these stones are still standing. Both Maryland and Virginia were slave states, and slavery existed in the district from its founding, and much of its construction likely relied in significant part on slave labor; slave receipts have been found for the White House, Capitol Building, and establishment of Georgetown University. The city became an important slave market and a center of the nation's internal slave trade. After its survey, the new federal city was constructed on the north bank of the Potomac River, east of Georgetown and centered on Capitol Hill. On September 9, 1791, three commissioners overseeing the capital's construction named the city in honor of President Washington. At the same time, the federal district was named Columbia, which was a poetic name for the United States commonly used at the time, being the feminine form of the name 'Colombus', in reference to Christopher Columbus. Congress held its first session there on November 17, 1800.
Did You Know?
- Washington, D.C., was named after George Washington, a founding patriot and the first president of the United States, while the district was named for Columbia, the female personification of the nation.
- The Residence Act, adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River and is considered the city's founding date.
- In 1800, the capital was moved from Philadelphia, and the 6th Congress started meeting in the then-unfinished Capitol Building, while President John Adams moved into the newly finished White House.
- On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces occupied Washington and set fire to federal buildings, including the Capitol, Library of Congress, Treasury Building, and White House, in what became known as the burning of Washington.
- As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 689,545, but during the workweek, commuters from Maryland and Virginia suburbs increase the daytime population to more than one million.