During the spring months when the District is teeming with tourists, it’s hard picture the city’s tourism industry ever struggling. But experts say September is one of the hardest months to drum up business here as all the kids are back in school and most trips have been made to the beach to soak up the last rays of summer.
Enter a September event designed to attract visitors up and down the Eastern Seaboard. The AT&T Nation’s Football Classic generated $3.5 million in spending in its first year at RFK Stadium, below the $6 million organizers had last year hoped it could spur. But businesses say they’re happy with their returns from the three-day-long event.
“I would say the results were certainly up to expectations if not exceeding,” said Joe Stern, sales leader at Marriott Hotels and Resorts. Marriott hotels in the District combined for roughly 1,100 room nights sold over the Sept. 10, 2011, weekend for the game between Howard University and Morehouse College.
“You start something new, you never know what you’re going to get,” Stern said. “The way we look at it is … these are room nights we would not have had if the event didn’t take place.”
When asked about his expectations for the event, Events DC’s Erik Moses said organizers were happy with the first year’s result.
“The restaurants and clubs that I passed that weekend were full … and they were pretty pleased that their places were packed,” said Moses, senior vice president and managing director.
He added that moving this year’s game to Labor Day weekend would turn the city into a destination on what is usually one of the biggeest beach weekends of the year.
“From our hotel partners and all other sponsors, I think all of us are interested in putting a flag in the ground for Labor Day,” Moses said.
