The stars and stripes are aligning for hoteliers in three historical U.S. cities this weekend.
The cities of Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are on track for stellar hotel performance over the July Fourth holiday. Along with being a long weekend for most Americans, these cities are hosting bigger events to celebrate their historical ties to America’s 250th anniversary, plus Boston and Philly have been hosting FIFA World Cup matches.
A lot of Americans traveling for July Fourth like to go to beach and other leisure-focused destinations, leaving the cities behind, said Didio Pequeno, director of hospitality market analytics, Northeast and Midwestern U.S., at CoStar Group. This year, however, these three cities and likely others along the Mid-Atlantic Coast up through the Northeast will see increased demand due in large part to celebrating the country’s founding.
“Given that occupancy in all three cities has already surpassed occupancy on the books last year, that’s a really good sign as we head into next weekend,” he said.
Washington, D.C.
As of June 26, hotel occupancy on the books for the market compared to the same time last year, June 28 through July 5, had already surpassed 2025, Pequeno said. For the weekend itself, July 3 was up 14%, July 4 up 27% and July 5 up 16%.
“It looks like D.C. is getting the biggest bump of those three cities, which is not surprising,” he said, citing the city’s marketing efforts.
The forward-looking data only provides hotel occupancy figures, but Pequeno said his discussions with hoteliers in the market have indicated rate growth alongside occupancy. The UFC event at the White House on June 14 generated a 65% increase in revenue per available room in the market. For context, however, D.C. did not have any major events scheduled at the same time last year.
While Washington, D.C., isn’t the host of any World Cup matches, the team at Destination D.C. expects many people will want to check out the events in the area, especially those who live along the East Coast, Pequeno said. The events that have already occurred, including the UFC fight and the Army 250 parade, have helped drive hotel performance so far.
Crestline Hotels & Resorts has five properties in and around the Washington, D.C., area, including two convention hotels and one near Capitol Hill.
“In downtown D.C., we are sold out for the weekend, especially [July 3] and the Fourth sold out, and with this being such a huge event in the semiquincentennial, we're seeing some of the shoulder nights also pick up,” said Amelia Zimmerman, vice president of sales and business development at Crestline.
Crestline's downtown D.C. hotels have been sold out for July 3 and July 4 for the past two to three months, and the shoulder nights have been filling in within the last month, she said. The hotels in the National Harbor and Dulles International Airport aren’t sold out, but the market is projecting about 75% to 80% occupancy. Regardless, Crestline has seen good rate lift in all markets.
That it is the country’s 250th anniversary is creating extra draw for the D.C. market compared to previous years, Zimmerman said.
“There’s definitely been more demand for rooms, which has really pushed for rates, and I think a lot of hotels in the market were very intentional about watching these days, knowing it was the 250th and pricing accordingly,” she said.
One of Crestline’s key strategies early on was to get length of stay over the holiday weekend, Zimmerman said. That July Fourth falls on a Saturday this year has been a boost, allowing for 100% to 150% increases in average daily rates compared to last year when the holiday was on a Friday. The average length of stay is 2.1 nights, meaning most are coming in Friday and checking out Sunday, but there is a noticeable increase in occupancy on Thursday and Sunday nights.
What's also helping the market is a small citywide event on Sunday, July 5, further boosting Crestline’s convention center hotels in the downtown area during a week when Congress is not scheduled to be in session, she said.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, the city where the Founding Fathers discussed and signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is welcoming some serious hotel demand this weekend.
The central business district of Philadelphia shows hotel occupancy on the books up 18.6% on July 4 compared to the same time last year, Pequeno said. Part of that is due to the city hosting a knock-out match for the World Cup on that day, but even July 3 is up 7.8% year over year.
“It’s looking like that’s going to benefit the whole weekend,” he said. “As a matter of fact, from June 30 through July 5, occupancy on the books is higher than last year, so that’s a solid week.”
Along with the World Cup match between France and Paraguay, Philadelphia has a full lineup of events and exhibits to draw people to the city. This includes the One Philly Unity Concert for America with performances by multiple musical recording artists and a fireworks display over the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Though he won’t have the exact numbers until after the weekend, Ed Grose, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, said his members are telling him they expect to do “very well this weekend.”
“I know when I go to try to book a room, I’m shown that the demand is quite here and that there’s not a lot of availability in Center City this weekend,” he said.
The FIFA World Cup matches have been great for Philadelphia, even if they didn’t translate into the number of hotel rooms local hoteliers initially thought they’d be able to sell, Grose said.
“Outside of that, it’s been great,” he said. “You can’t buy this type of exposure, year over year. We’re still killing it, and the Fourth of July weekend is even better.”
Boston
The Boston market, specifically the downtown submarket, is not seeing the same bump as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., but hotel occupancy on the books was up 3.7% compared to last year, Pequeno said. Part of the reason is Philly’s hosting of a World Cup match on July 4 whereas Boston hosts a game on July 9.
“But in Boston, I am very curious to see if World Cup travelers stick around through July 9 to see what happens just to be part of the festivities,” he said.
Lauren Wojcicki, area director of revenue management for Pyramid Hotel Group, said as of June 26, the Boston-area hotel in her portfolio was expecting a 14% increase in revenue for July 3 and 131% increase for July 4. Average daily rate is the main driver for the Fourth of July holiday.
“We’re really looking for a nice growth over the previous year,” she said.
What has been interesting to watch, though, is the days leading into the holiday weekend are lagging in their pickup, Wojcicki said. That tends to happen when the Fourth of July falls on a weekend day, but that’s more on the resort side than in corporate travel, so it was a surprise to see it happen at The Kendall Hotel, which typically attracts corporate business.
“But the [business travelers] are really not there midweek where it plays out better for everyone when the holiday itself falls on a Thursday or Sunday or Monday,” she said. “You extend the celebration as opposed to when it’s on a Friday or Saturday. However, with a Saturday, we are able to garner a much higher ADR because of it.”
The holiday events around Boston are ones the city has put on in the past but bigger because of the anniversary, Wojcicki said.
“They’ve taken what was already in place and just amplified it and really put some additional marketing behind it, and that’s where they’ve been able to give it more legs, get a further reach,” she said.