Washington DC is to showcase the Black Lives Matter movement and the city’s history of protest with further development of America’s first Black Lives Matter Plaza.
The plaza opened in autumn 2021 and currently features a 14.5-metre mural, with an additional $3 million allocated to create more public space.
Speaking at the IPW Conference in Orlando, Destination DC chief executive Elliott Ferguson said an increasing number of visitors were keen to explore the background to the movement and the protests which spread globally in 2020.
He said: “People come to the US and to DC for the American experience and some of that experience is the painful history of our country.
“People are looking for ways in which they can understand what was happening in 2020 and 2021 and how that continues today, and the Black Lives Matter Plaza and the wider DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) content on our website helps them do that.”
He added: “A lot of what happens in Washington is great but not everything. History is history and we want to give people a way to explore that, both in the plaza and in our neighbourhoods.
“Most visitors want to enjoy our city but they also want a snapshot of what is happening nationwide.”
Ferguson also highlighted a range of other new openings and attractions, including eight hotels or new hotel brands opening in 2022, and echoed other US industry leaders’ confidence that the recovery of international travel to pre-pandemic levels would be reached sooner than economists’ predicted date of 2025.
He said: “We are seeing tangible evidence from our partners in the form of strong enquiries and actual international visitor numbers. I am optimistic we are seeing a faster rebound [than projected].”
Photo: Washington.org