Destination DC Says City Is Safe Despite Trump's Claims

Last week, President Donald Trump declared a public-safety emergency in Washington, D.C. and deployed the National Guard in an effort to crack down on crime, which he said is "becoming a situation of complete and total lawlessness." But Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, the city's official convention and visitor's bureau, said the way the city is being depicted does not match with reality, and crime is in fact declining. According to data from the Metropolitan Police Department, violent crime within Washington, D.C., fell 35 percent in 2024, marking a 30-year low.

"What's happening in Washington has been overly sensationalized in terms of not being safe," said Ferguson. "There are always going to be incidents in urban environments, but the data speaks for itself. To be depicted as a crime-infested city is unfair and inaccurate."

Reassuring groups

In an effort to assure event planners of the city's safety, the convention and visitors bureau is reaching out to all groups with meetings scheduled to take place within at least the next 90 days, and is sharing a "more accurate description of what's happening in Washington," said Ferguson. This information also is being shared with hotel and venue partners so they can reach out to groups that did not book directly through Destination DC.

"Our goal is to give insight as to what actually is happening in Washington, how the city remains open, and as the mayor has shared, that crime is down in the city," said Ferguson. To take it one step further, Destination DC is also connecting planners who have hosted recent events with those who are currently in the planning process.

"There are groups that are meeting in the city and we want them to share their experience of meeting in Washington, which is overwhelmingly positive," he added. "There's nothing like your peers saying 'I met in Washington during the time of the National Guard coming into the city and we had no issues. There was a plan of action from the convention center and we had a very peaceful conference.'"

Busy schedule of events

The city's downtown Walter E. Washington Convention Center currently has a full calendar of upcoming events and conferences. This week, the American Chemical Society is in town for its Annual Meeting. According to Ferguson, the organization fielded some questions from attendees regarding the recent news, but did not see any related attrition.

Four conferences will be held at the convention center next week: The International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology's Annual Meeting, the National Homeland Security Conference, the Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition, and the Tee Con Convention.

How White House policies are affecting the meetings industry

While it might be too early to tell the full impact of the National Guard deployment on meetings business, Destination DC shared that the city has lost 41 events since election season last fall.

Of these, eight groups cancelled their meetings outright, including three international organizations. Meanwhile, 33 groups, including 13 from overseas, had not yet booked their meeting but stopped considering D.C. among their options.

Ferguson notes that the loss of international business is a concern for many U.S. cities right now.

"As you talk to cities around the country, we are all experiencing a downturn in terms of the number of inquiries from international business, specifically group business that was looking at coming to the United States," said Ferguson. "In some cases, the international component could be 20 to 40 percent of attendees but there's a lot of concern right now about getting the credentials to come into the U.S. and the sense of safety in the U.S. — things that we continue to address."

Still it's important to note that Destination DC has booked 784,628 room nights since Oct. 1, 2024 and losses due to political reasons only represent 2 percent of the city's total room nights.

Ferguson stressed that the city is safe and the CVB is here to field questions from planners as they navigate the planning process. 

"We're open and we want people to truly understand that the way we were depicted — similar to where L.A. was six and a half weeks ago and where other cities will probably be — is not the reality of visiting or meeting in Washington, D.C."