View From Afar S1, E17: IPW 2025 | Elliott Ferguson, President and CEO of Destination DC

Michelle: I’m Michelle Baran, deputy editor at Afar. Welcome to View From Afar, a podcast that spotlights the people and ideas shaping the future of travel. And in this special series, I’m coming to you live from the floor of IPW, the annual travel conference organized by the U.S. Travel Association to share the best of America with the rest of the world.

In this episode, we’re talking with Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC. Elliott’s been with the destination marketing organization that represents the nation’s capital since 2001 and was named CEO in 2009. It’s been quite a year for Elliott. D.C. broke tourism records in 2024, welcoming 27.2 million visitors and generating $2.3 billion in tax revenue for the district.

And in December, Elliott was named chair of Brand USA’s board of directors, the organization that markets America to international travelers, but just four months into his one-year term as Brand USA chair, Elliott was abruptly fired by the White House in April. The move left the travel industry asking questions about the future of America’s destination marketing efforts, and it happened right as Elliott and other tourism leaders are expressing concerns about the climate for international visitors in 2025.

Throughout his career, Elliott has been a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the travel industry and is someone who has worked in Washington through the pandemic, civil unrest, and multiple election cycles. Elliott brings a unique perspective on resilience and leadership during turbulent times.

Michelle: Alright, let’s do this. Welcome, Elliott. So looking ahead to America 250 in 2026 and the NFL draft in 2027, how are you positioning the city to capitalize on these big events? What’s your strategy for turning these moments into long-term tourism growth?

Elliott: Yeah, absolutely. One, it’s a pleasure to be here. And, uh, for us, as we look at all the reasons why people travel specifically to Washington, D.C.— monuments, memorials, and museums—we appreciate unique events like this that really accentuate or, or add to the trip themselves. So America’s 250 for us is a big deal, clearly. There are other cities in the U.S. that were the nation’s capital before Washington, D.C. but we know we’ll be the center of attention.

It’s gonna be a year-long event that showcases all things tied to, you know, the celebration of the 250 years of independence. And the juxtaposition to that, of course, would be the NFL draft, which will bring a different crowd.

Michelle: Right.

Elliott: But a large crowd to Washington, D.C. notably, um, over 1 million people. I think the key thing for us is economic development associated with visitation. And as we’re looking at these crowds coming to this city for whatever those reasons are, how do we also position D.C. for them to look at us a little differently and above and beyond the federal experience that we normally enjoy?

Michelle: Right. I love the idea of sort of spreading the wealth, so to speak, like having people come and spend their tourism dollars, you know, in smaller businesses and literally spreading it further into the city.

Elliott: Absolutely. We just did that with World Pride. You know, we knew that you’d have a large number of people coming to the District of Columbia that may have been before or may have never been, but they’re coming for World Pride and hopefully they’ll leave thinking differently about Washington, how green, how accessible—all the things in which we enjoy about our destination.

Michelle: Right. Well, I’m glad you brought up World Pride because it is a particularly interesting time to be discussing Washington, D.C. and tourism in the nation’s capital at a time when our country’s politics and policies are being scrutinized internationally. So what are the unique challenges you face in your role and Washington, D.C. faces in general as a tourism destination?

Elliott: The key thing is separating the two: You know, the Washington, D.C., the 535 members of Congress that come and stay in D.C. to make laws, versus the 700-plus thousand of us that are our residents.

Today, we showcased a video that really talked about how Washington, the residents of Washington embrace diversity, how we embrace, uh, people from all types of backgrounds. And equally as much a city with over 175 embassies—[and] people choosing to remain in Washington after their time in that embassy is up—how we are culturally diverse in so many different ways.

So our goal is to, yes, celebrate the fact that we are the city we are because of the federal experience, but separate ourselves from that in terms of the experience that people will have, especially anything that is negative in terms of rhetoric from, from lawmakers.

Michelle: And you make such a good point ’cause there’s Washington, the seat of government, and then there’s D.C., the place where people actually live. So how do you distinguish the two and market the district beyond the museums and politics? I mean, you gave some examples, but how do you continue to get that message out?

Elliott: The key thing—our current campaign, There’s Only One DC—but it also ties to the international feel of the city. It ties into the restaurant scene. It ties to all the things that really make us a unique destination, but it really ties to the people themselves. You know, I think sometimes we get lost in translation in terms of coming to Washington because everyone thinks we wear suits and we are all talking politics.

Michelle: You don’t? You don’t all wear suits?

Elliott: That’s why I did not wear one today on stage. But it gives us a chance to really showcase, um, how the global community sees Washington. So how do we capture those experiences, share them with potential visitors that are coming to the U.S. and to Washington, D.C. to, to really talk about a different side of our city?

Michelle: Right. Absolutely. When we talk about sort of the people who live there, how do you serve both the locals and tourists when the needs of each are so different?

Elliott: I mean, I think that, um, they’re different, but they’re somewhat unique because I think that visitors like coming for the traditional reasons, but they also like unique events that are taking place in Washington, like festivals and you know, Jazz Festival, um, to name a few plus some of those that are coming in the future, including World Pride.

We’re hosting Club Cup this week, uh, which is a precursor to World Cup visitors.

Michelle: That’s a test run, right?

Elliott: It is a test run and it’s something that Washingtonians enjoy in terms of being able to take advantage of these events as well as visitors. So I think it’s a combination of those things.

Michelle: I’m so glad you brought that up, because we keep talking about all these big international events or, you know, sporting events and how great it’ll be for international visitors, but we forget how exciting it is for domestic, you know, for the locals.

Elliott: Absolutely. I mean, you know, even with concerts and unique things that are taking place in the city sometimes. You know, and I joke that, um, folks that live in a city make the worst tourists ’cause they never do anything until they have visitors come to town.

Michelle: It’s true. It’s true.

Elliott: So, so true. But the, the thing that I love the most about some of the events that take place in the city is that they’re embraced by the locals. We are one of the few cities that celebrate, you know, Emancipation Day, um, as we have our own Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. There are opportunities to learn more about, uh, the Washington experience, but equally as much to just enjoy the city, um, above and beyond the federal experience, which is what’s important to us. Get people into our neighborhoods, uh, get them to see the architecture of Washington that’s tied to, of course, French architecture because the city was laid out by the French. And to understand a lot more about the city above and beyond things in which they think they know about Washington.

Michelle: Right. I know. I was gonna say, it’s, we probably all could use, you know, a history lesson in the place that we, we live or we’re from, because we don’t spend enough time, you know, digging into the, to all these things.

Elliott: Yeah. And I, I will say that sometimes when you use the word history and museums mm-hmm they don’t resonate as fun and sexy. You know, I always joke that that family of five in Wisconsin, “Hey, do you want to go to Washington, D.C. or do you wanna go to Disney World?” Chances are they’re not gonna choose Washington unless they’ve been before.

Michelle: Oh, come on.

Elliott: I mean, well, you know, you gotta know, you have to know your strengths and weaknesses.

Michelle: Right.

Elliott: Right. But what happens is that when they do come, they are wowed by, you know, the museum experience. It’s, yes, we appreciate the galleries with, with, uh, the great frescoes and sculptures, but these are immersive, interactive experiences, and they’re all free. Um, you know, the 16 Smithsonians are free.

Michelle: Free is a big selling point.

Elliott: Uh, the zoo, which is a part of the Smithsonian, which also now has pandas again, uh, is free. So when you really think about the value of coming to a city like Washington, the family, the, you know, mom and dad appreciate the value, but the kids are probably more intrigued and impressed with what we have to offer than they probably anticipated.

Michelle: It’s very, very true. So, um, getting back to, Pride Month and hosting World Pride. Um, of course we always, politics always comes up when we talk about D.C., um, and all the politics around DEI, several big sponsors did pull out. So how did you and the festival handle that, and what was it like this year? Would you say it was a successful event?

Elliott: Yeah, I mean, one, it was disappointing that sponsors pulled out, and I think that there will probably be some fallout for them long term. I think that as you really look at Washington as a destination, again, 14 percent of Washingtonians identify as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. That is the fabric of who we are. We, we embrace diversity.

Um, were the numbers what we anticipated? Absolutely not. Was it because of the rhetoric and the concerns and, you know, the trans community, the nonbinary community? Absolutely. Um, did we have work to do in that space? We absolutely did. I will say that overall those that did come had a very smooth experience getting into the country, had a great experience in Washington, D.C.

Um, you know, I, when, you know, I was asked earlier about, you know, people and their concerns about travel, I mean, you’ve gotta do what you feel comfortable with doing. I think our goal is to talk about how, you know, the global community, the LGBTQ community that’s represented in Washington feel about being Washingtonians, and hopefully that resonates long term.

So overall, it was a good experience. Um, it was a celebration that was well received locally. And again, it separated Washington, D.C. from D.C. the city.

Michelle: And how do you see the current political climate affecting DEI efforts within the travel industry? And, and why does this work remain important?

Elliott: Well, I think that, you know, those that are, um, their, their funding that are tied to, that’s tied to, you know, federal dollars have to, you know, be mindful as to how, uh, their DEI efforts might impact their dollars. You know, once upon a time I was . . . chair of Brand USA, uh—

Michelle: Oh, we’ll talk about that. A little bit at least.

Elliott: I figured it was coming up, so I might as well just bring it up. But we talked about, um, you know, me being in that space, the initial chair of Tourism Diversity Matters and why this is important to me. As a destination, we have not taken our foot off of, um, DEI, nor have we run from the word, so the acronym, DEI.

But certain organizations need to think about how that could impact their, their livelihood. I mean, you know, you want to live to just see another day. And I think that’s important, um, as organizations are, are, are finding their way and navigating through this unique space that we’re in.

Michelle: And so you brought up Brand USA.

Elliott: Did I? Yeah, I did, didn’t I? Of . . .

Michelle: So you were chair of the board for Brand USA, but half the board, all of those who were appointed by the federal government, yourself included, were removed by the new administration.

Elliott: Just the officers.

Michelle: So what are the implications of the change and where do you think Brand USA goes from here?

Elliott: Yeah, you know, one thing that I will reemphasize, um, every president coming into office has the opportunity to do something similar to what this administration has done. It’s just not been done before. Um, I’ll also say that, um, we were not the only organization, you know, from, the Board of Kennedy Center to Institute of Peace to the, um, the head librarian and the Library of Congress. The list goes on and on. It’s been unfortunate.

Um, I was disappointed, um, simply because we were building up so much momentum with Fred and his new role as, as CEO. Fred and I have a really good relationship. We truly understand DEI for different reasons, um, and we also understand the need to diversify how the U.S. goes after the global community.

So, am I disappointed? Absolutely. I think that there was a reoccurring sense with this administration, that they wanted to bring in people with the ideologies of this administration and it is what it is. Um, I think that between Fred and myself, we—one, we’re friends. Two, we represent different layers of diversity and we really had some, um, strong goals and initiatives associated with the direction that the organization will be going. It won’t change because I’m not there. I know Fred will remain consistent in that space. And as a member of this industry, I will still remain very, um, emphatically, uh, adamant that Brand USA gets the proper funding so that they can do the things that they were created to do 13 years ago by U.S. Travel Association.

Michelle: So obviously you’ve navigated some challenging times. What have you learned sort of about crisis leadership that other DMO could apply to their own situations?

Elliott: Yeah, I mean, I, I moved to D.C. right after 9/11 and you know, we’ve had sniper and anthrax and a whole bunch of other stuff. January 6th. You know, I think that you have to have a crisis plan. And I think, uh, the, the plan has to change based on the scenarios at hand.

You know, by the way, we were talking about weather-related issues. And then all of a sudden we had an earthquake in Washington, D.C. over a decade ago that we weren’t talking about, and I grew up in California. So I think that the goal is to make sure that you’re consistently talking about a plan, external plan and an internal plan, in terms of crisis. And that that plan is also tied into what your city is doing and in a city like Washington, what the federal government’s plan is as well. So a lot of layers.

Michelle: A lot to juggle.

Elliott: A lot to juggle, but you definitely have to, to be mindful that those that are not prepared or don’t have a, don’t have a plan and a cool head to deal with, with a crisis are probably gonna, uh, fall on some difficult times.

Michelle: Well, it sounds like you’re well suited to do the job. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Elliott: It’s my pleasure. Thank you.

Michelle: Thanks for joining us for this episode of View From Afar. In the show notes, you’ll find links to everything we discuss today as well as Destination DC’s website and social media handles, and our recent D.C. coverage. And be sure to follow along this week to hear more interviews with industry experts.

You can find more Views From Afar on afar.com and be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok. We’re @Afar Media. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, I hope you’ll come back for more great interviews. Subscribing always makes that easy. And be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platforms.

This has been View From Afar, a production of Afar Media. The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound.

This podcast is part of the AirWave Media podcast network. Visit airwavemedia.com to listen and subscribe to their other fine shows like Culture Kids and The Explorers Podcast.