Washington, D.C. to see smaller boost in inaugural tourism this time around

With Inauguration Day approaching, Washington’s marketing professionals and business opportunists are offering all they can for sale. But they aren’t getting nearly the amount of buyers they did four years ago.

Kate Gibbs, spokeswoman for Destination D.C., a nonprofit corporation that promotes D.C. travel and tourism, tells Whispers that the city’s hospitality industry isn’t seeing the same boost as it did in the weeks leading up to President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. Unlike the flood of visitors to hotels in January 2009, she says, “There are definitely rooms still available.” VIP packages, which sold well in 2009, also aren’t selling so well.