National Harbor Tourism Revenue Reaches New High as Convention Business Rebounds

Tourism revenue at Prince George's County's National Harbor development reached a new high last year, according to county tourism officials, driven largely by a rebound in convention and group travel business that had lagged well behind leisure travel recovery in the years immediately following the pandemic.

The waterfront development, home to a large convention hotel and resort complex along with retail, dining, and entertainment venues, has increasingly positioned itself as a lower-cost alternative to hosting conventions and conferences in downtown Washington, a pitch that county tourism officials say has become more persuasive as downtown hotel rates have risen.

"Meeting planners are increasingly price-sensitive, and we can offer a genuinely comparable convention experience with significantly lower hotel and venue costs than what you'd pay a few miles away in the District," said a Prince George's County tourism official. "That gap has become a real selling point for us over the last few years."

Hotel occupancy data for the National Harbor area showed particularly strong growth in midweek group bookings, historically the hardest segment to fill compared with leisure travel that skews toward weekends. County officials credited targeted marketing to national association and corporate meeting planners for the shift, along with continued investment in the development's convention center facilities.

Prince George's County has continued investing in infrastructure supporting the development, including expanded water taxi service connecting National Harbor to Washington and Alexandria. County economic development officials said they expect tourism revenue to continue growing as additional hotel and event space capacity comes online at the development over the next several years.