Capital Market Pulse: Washington DC Hotel & Travel Trends — Q3 2026
HSMAI Washington DC’s State of the Industry is its signature event, featuring leading experts who present local analyses and forecasts to inform hospitality professionals. The August 19 event offered valuable market insights from several perspectives. Keep a pulse on the top trends in the capital market shared by these experts as you prepare your 2027 budgets and strategies.
Destination Visitation
Washington, DC enjoyed two years of record visitation and a robust summer due to DC250 celebrations. Despite a reduced marketing budget in 2027, Destination DC will build on its successful “Only1DC” campaign, leaning into a sports capital story, promoting DC as a meetings destination, and featuring more hotel packages and itineraries in its paid advertising campaigns.
— Robin McClain, Chief Marketing Officer, Destination DC
Hotel Occupancy and RevPAR
Washington, DC hotel occupancy is pacing slightly ahead for the second half of 2026; however, this trend is not evenly distributed across every month. RevPAR is forecast to improve by about 3% in 2027. Improving the guest experience, developing new revenue streams, and driving demand will continue to impact occupancy and RevPAR into 2027.
— Blake Herring, Head of Travel Intelligence Solutions Consultants, Amadeus
Dulles Airport Trends
Inbound arrivals to Dulles International Airport broke records in 2025, with 29 million passengers coming through Dulles, including an all-time-high number of international visitors. By 2030, Dulles forecasts +27% growth in total enplaned passengers.
— Richard Golinowski, Vice President and Airport Manager, Dulles International Airport
Meetings & Events
Washington, DC is the #2 market for meetings & events in 2026, and event volume for the rest of this year is expected to pace closely to 2025. Top industries based on the number of bookings are associations, nonprofits and education.
— Jessica Carey, Vice President, Knowland Customer Operations
Continue the Conversation
Join HSMAI DC at its DMV Commercial Leadership Forum on October 7 to continue conversations about driving performance in 2027. You’ll leave the Forum ready to apply these insights and strategies at your hotel or organization.