The Washington, DC Response & Recovery from the 9/11 Attacks

International Destination Risk International Destination Risk Management Conference Management Conference

Presented by Bogazici University &Presented by Bogazici University &The George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University

June 7, 2004June 7, 2004

Dr. Douglas Frechtling, Professor of Tourism Studies

Department of Tourism & Hospitality Mgmt.School of Business

September 11, 2001: The Setting

Residents 4.9 million

Visitors (2000) 19.2 million

Visitor-nights (2000) 51.1 million

Visitor expenditures (2000) $6 billion

Hotels 437

Hotel rooms 77.4 thousand

Hotel demand (room-nights sold, 2000) 20.3 million

Hotel lodging revenue (2000) $2.35 billion

Sources: Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation, Smith Travel Research

September 11, 2001: The Catastrophe

Airliner crashes into the Pentagon building near the heart of the city, after two struck the World

Trade Center Towers in New York City

Impact on visitors to the Washington, DC area and

its tourism industries• Hotel visitors dropped 400,000

September - November• Downtown hotel room revenue

fell 65% for these 3 months• Nearest major airport closed for

3 weeks • Major attractions closed for up to

5 months• Tourism job losses reached

27,000

The Destination Response

A. Coordinated ResponseB. Reopening Tourist VenuesC. Promoting Business TravelD. Progressive Marketing

Campaign

A. Coordinated Response

Led by Washington, DC Convention and Tourism Corporation (WCTC)

Joined by other regional economic development organizations and industry associationsIdentified needs Provided hospitality to victims & familiesPressured government to extend relief

B. Reopening Tourist Venues

• Pressured government to re-open Reagan National Airport

• Persuaded major public attractions to reopen

C. Promoting Business Travel

• Asked government agencies to declare DC safe for meetings

• Contacted hundreds of convention clients• Urged embassy officials abroad to communicate

actual status• Did not seek financial bailout from government

D. Progressive Marketing Campaign

• Raised $3.37 million for advertising and public relations

• Supplemented by private industry efforts

• Focused first on local markets

Bus/Underground Banner

D. Progressive Marketing Campaign

• Launched national campaign:

“Come, Be Inspired!”

WCTC Website: www.washington.org

D. Progressive Marketing Campaign

• Initiated public relations campaign to develop positive stories

• Sensitive to audience’s willingness to hear messages

The Results

• Hotels lost nearly $300 million compared to year-earlier levels, with half of loss concentrated in Sept.-Nov. 2001

• Hotel demand returned to near-normal levels by Spring 2002

• Overnight visitor volume grew 7% in 2002

• Metro area employment posted exceptional growth

Similar Recoveries in Hotel Demand in New York City and Washington DC since 9/11

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

Sep01

Dec01

Mar02

Jun02

Sep02

Dec02

Mar03

Jun03

Sep03

Dec03

Change from Year Prior to 9/11

DC Room demandNYC Room demand

Hotel Revenue Recovery in New York City Has Lagged Washington DC

-50%

-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

Sep-01

Dec-01

Mar-02

Jun-02

Sep-02

Dec-02

Mar-03

Jun-03

Sep-03

Dec-03

Change from Year Prior to 9/11

DC Room RevenueNYC Room revenue

Contrasting Recoveries In Year Following 9/11

Washington, DC New York City

Room nights down 8% Room nights down 9%

Room rates cut 9-10% Room rates cut 21-28%

Room revenue fell 14% Room revenue fell 24%

Revenue loss from prior year = $340 million

Revenue loss from prior year = $1.1 billion

The George Washington University Role

• Analyzed impacts

• Developed real time visitor estimates

• Benchmarked against competitors

• Projected magnitude of potential losses

• Planning for future catastrophes

• Documented crisis recovery model

Destination Crisis Recovery Model

Destination

Management

Organization

Crisis or catastrophe

Extraordinary Marketing Campaign

Crisis

Plan

Restore Internal Order

External

Emergency

Response

Once order is restored

Coordinate stakeholder activities

External reassurance to customers

When customers are ready to return

Source: Stafford, Yu & Armoo (2002)

Special thanks are due the Washington, DC Convention

and Tourism Corporationand Smith Travel Research