BALTIMORE — Officials with Visit Baltimore say it could take years for the city's tourism industry to recover.
"People aren’t traveling," said Visit Baltimore CEO & President, Al Hutchinson. "The pandemic has decimated the travel and tourism industry. From our numbers we know that just the Convention Center business alone, we’re losing over $90 million in lost revenue that we can’t recoup."
Hutchinson said it could take the city until 2024 to full recover.
"We're positive that we can make a comeback," he said.
To help with the efforts the city is resuming its new advertising campaign, aiming for visitors from nearby states and Washington, D.C. The ad, 'Beneath the Shell,' is the work of local poet Kondwani Fidel and photographer Devin Allen.
"We listen to a lot of our fellow stakeholders," said Hutchinson. "They told us arts and culture are what Baltimore is all about so we really believe it’s up to our community to really fall in love again with Baltimore City. This is one example of our appeal to our local community. We're saying help us to rebuild Baltimore as we overcome this pandemic."
Visit Baltimore hopes to appeal to tourists in nearby states of New York, Philadelphia, Virgina and Washington, D.C.
"We want to show our neighbors what an amazing city we have to offer," said Hutchinson.
