July 24, 2023 • 7 mins
On this week's episode of Where To Next, we stay close to home to chat with Al Hutchinson, President & CEO of Visit Baltimore! We chat about the city we know and love, travel rebounding since the pandemic, our fabulous events, festivals, and sports team, and how Visit Baltimore is working diligently to highlight all the wonderful parts that make Charm City so special!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to We'reToo Next, a travel podcast with me.
Your host, my name is FrancescaPresti joining me today. Al Hutchinson,
President and CEO of Visit Baltimore.Al welcome, Hey, thank you
very much for Francessica. Good tobe here. Baltimore dot Org is where
you want to go to check outeverything you need to know about our beautiful
city. And I'm so excited thatwe finally get to talk about our beautiful
city. So let's talk charm City. Ol. Well. Look, charm
(00:22):
City is one of the most specialplaces in America. We feel we are
the city that helped contribute it tobill America. So travel and tourism is
very important to what we do here, arguably the third fourth largest business sector
in the city, and so wespend a lot of our time a Visit
Baltimore just telling all the good newsstories about Baltimore, whether it's arts and
culture, whether it's our great culinaryscene, which is much bigger than jes
(00:46):
Marlin Blue Crabs. Well, wedo great greatness in that space. We
talk about our history, but wealso talk about the great sports scene here
in Baltimore. But it's all aboutcreating great quality of life. So when
folks come to Baltimore fourth visit,enjoy all the goodness that Baltimore has to
offer and can really enjoy the city, and when they go back home,
they tell their family and friends cometo see Baltimore, you're missing out if
(01:10):
you've never been to Trump City onehundred percent. And you touched on this
a little bit. The culinary scenein Baltimore, I think it's so underrated.
I think it's diverse and vibrant anddelicious, but for whatever reason,
it seems to always be a surpriseto visitors and people that check out Baltimore
for the first time. So whatdo you think that is attributed to?
And can you talk a little bitabout some of the shining stars when it
(01:30):
comes to the dining scene here inBaltimore. Well, I totally agree with
you. I think Baltimore Poundful Townhas one of the best culinary scenes in
this country. I travel all overthe country, but we do greatness.
Our challenge has been though, thatwe have not effectively told that story regionally
and nationally, and we want toget the word out more so. Visit
Baltimore is very focused on telling allthe neighborhood stories about our restaurants, our
(01:55):
breweries, the great chefs that arehere in Baltimore. And just recently we
took seven black chefs to New Yorkfor a media dinner. We invited twenty
journalists who write in the travel andtourism space, and we bought out the
new James Beard Foundation platform in Chelsea, New York. It's probably was one
of the best events I've ever beena part of because we were able to
celebrate Baltimore's culinary scene with these sevenBlack chefs. They could tell their story
(02:21):
and these journalists were just blown awayby the rich culinary scene we have in
Baltimore. And since then we've gottenseveral articles written about that night and also
about Baltimore as being one of thestrongest and most vibrant culinary scenes in the
country. And so we want tocelebrate that. But a part of the
work at Visit Baltimore we want tomake sure we tell that story all across
(02:42):
the country. Absolutely, and tourism, of course, is we've touched on
a little bit, is a majorfactor when talking about a flourishing Baltimore city.
So how would you say that VisitBaltimore is working on attracting visitors and
those important economic dollars incorporating those backinto the city. Well, quite frankly,
a lot change in our industry sincetwenty twenty when the whole role changed
and this industry was really really shutdown for almost two plush years, and
(03:05):
so we've been spending a lot ofour time to reopen this visitory economy as
we call it, which is veryvibrant. I mentioned third the fourth largest
business sector in the country. Butthe good news is we're slowly coming back.
We're not where we need to be. But if you look at twenty
twenty two, based on data thatwas collected by Longwoods International, about twenty
six million people visited Baltimore for bothovernight and day trips. They spent three
(03:30):
point seven billion dollars in the Baltimoreeconomy. That's very strong. So domestic
travel is beginning to come back andincreased almost ten percent and spending increased about
thirty nine percent. So the traveleris coming back. We are reopened.
We had more work to do,but we think the words out and our
spring and summer has been strong inBaltimore and we're really anticipating some really great
(03:54):
travel going into twenty twenty four andtwenty twenty five. We love and to
hear it. Al Hutchinson, Presidentand CEO of Visit Baltimore Baltimore dot org
online for all the information everything youneed to know. And I do feel
like after living here for quite afew years that Baltimore is just full of
surprises. Now. We know there'sso many proud Os and Ravens fans all
(04:14):
around here, but people are generallysurprised to find out that Baltimore is a
sports city. You don't really hearthat a lot of the time. I
think, would you agree with that? Well, I agree with you,
and I would say to your listenersthat Baltimore we're really a sports mecca you
think about. You mentioned the Os, you mentioned the Ravens, but you
know we're the home of lacrosse.We invented that game that started here in
(04:35):
the state of Marlin, so that'sa big deal to us. We know
basketball is very important, and wewere fortunate enough to woo the ci Double
A men's and women's basketball conference fromCharlotte, North Carolina. They had been
there for fifteen straight years and theycame to Baltimore their first tournament was in
twenty twenty two. It's a greatsuccess. But then last year's tournament about
(04:57):
almost thirty million economic impact to allcity. And the last week in February,
when typically you know, businesses area slow, hotel business is slow,
but hotels are sold out, restaurantswere jamming, and we had visitors
from all over the country coming toenjoy basketball, but also coming to enjoy
Baltimore City. And so also lastyear Labor Day weekend, we had the
(05:23):
first Roland Cycling Classic and that's comingback this Labor Day and that's a fantastic
event. It's international professional cyclists fromover twenty countries participated. The race begins
up in Baltimore County, but itfinishes in downtown Baltimore. Please come out
of this Labor Day to take partin the Cycling Classic. But it's a
(05:44):
vibrant events, great food's great drink. But you're gonna witness some of the
best cyclists from around the globe righthere in downtown Baltimore. So there's no
doubt sports is importance of Baltimore.It sort of transcends everything when you're looking
at sports, and that's it's importantfor us to bring as many sporting events
to Baltimore City as we can doabsolutely And I know one of the things
(06:06):
that I was really surprised about uponmoving here personally was how many major events
and festivals that Baltimore has. Imean, there's charm City Bluegrass Festival,
Preakness, the Fells Point Fun Festival, and so many more. So before
I let you go, I'd loveto know some of your favorite charm City
events and anything new that you mightbe able to tell us that is coming
down the pike. Well, youknow, as a destination marketer, I
(06:29):
have to say all those events Ienjoy. I can't really just pick pick
one. You're not going to pickyour favorite child, but no, I
don't want to do that. ButI can tell you all of those events
you mentioned, from Preakness to aframto Artscape, which is coming back this
fall, all of them are veryimportant to the vipracy of our city.
We need festivals because they bring peopleout, people spend money. But also
(06:53):
we've been sort of locked in ourhomes the last three years because of the
pandemic, and I think people reallywant to get back out. They want
to see each other, and thatsocial interaction is so important for us,
and so I will tell you thatwe're going to continue to bring more events
to Baltimore. You know, thePride Festival was a big hit this spring.
(07:14):
Now with the renovated CFG Bank Arena, you have more concerts and music
events coming to our community. Soldout music events coming to Baltimore. So
more to come on the festival front, and we're excited about where we're going.
We have great venues, the peoplein Baltimore some of the best in
the world, but we want tomake sure we bring our visitors in so
they can enjoy all the things thatyou and I enjoy here in Baltimore City.
(07:38):
Well, we're looking forward to it. Al Hutchinson, President CEO of
Visit Baltimore, thank you again somuch for joining me and chatting all about
our fabulous city. Thanks for invitingme, and have a great summer.
Good morning, and welcome to We'reToo Next, a travel podcast with me.
Your host, my name is FrancescaPresti joining me today. Al Hutchinson,
President and CEO of Visit Baltimore.Al welcome, Hey, thank you
very much for Francessica. Good tobe here. Baltimore dot Org is where
you want to go to check outeverything you need to know about our beautiful
city. And I'm so excited thatwe finally get to talk about our beautiful
city. So let's talk charm City. Ol. Well. Look, charm
(00:22):
City is one of the most specialplaces in America. We feel we are
the city that helped contribute it tobill America. So travel and tourism is
very important to what we do here, arguably the third fourth largest business sector
in the city, and so wespend a lot of our time a Visit
Baltimore just telling all the good newsstories about Baltimore, whether it's arts and
culture, whether it's our great culinaryscene, which is much bigger than jes
(00:46):
Marlin Blue Crabs. Well, wedo great greatness in that space. We
talk about our history, but wealso talk about the great sports scene here
in Baltimore. But it's all aboutcreating great quality of life. So when
folks come to Baltimore fourth visit,enjoy all the goodness that Baltimore has to
offer and can really enjoy the city, and when they go back home,
they tell their family and friends cometo see Baltimore, you're missing out if
(01:10):
you've never been to Trump City onehundred percent. And you touched on this
a little bit. The culinary scenein Baltimore, I think it's so underrated.
I think it's diverse and vibrant anddelicious, but for whatever reason,
it seems to always be a surpriseto visitors and people that check out Baltimore
for the first time. So whatdo you think that is attributed to?
And can you talk a little bitabout some of the shining stars when it
(01:30):
comes to the dining scene here inBaltimore. Well, I totally agree with
you. I think Baltimore Poundful Townhas one of the best culinary scenes in
this country. I travel all overthe country, but we do greatness.
Our challenge has been though, thatwe have not effectively told that story regionally
and nationally, and we want toget the word out more so. Visit
Baltimore is very focused on telling allthe neighborhood stories about our restaurants, our
(01:55):
breweries, the great chefs that arehere in Baltimore. And just recently we
took seven black chefs to New Yorkfor a media dinner. We invited twenty
journalists who write in the travel andtourism space, and we bought out the
new James Beard Foundation platform in Chelsea, New York. It's probably was one
of the best events I've ever beena part of because we were able to
celebrate Baltimore's culinary scene with these sevenBlack chefs. They could tell their story
(02:21):
and these journalists were just blown awayby the rich culinary scene we have in
Baltimore. And since then we've gottenseveral articles written about that night and also
about Baltimore as being one of thestrongest and most vibrant culinary scenes in the
country. And so we want tocelebrate that. But a part of the
work at Visit Baltimore we want tomake sure we tell that story all across
(02:42):
the country. Absolutely, and tourism, of course, is we've touched on
a little bit, is a majorfactor when talking about a flourishing Baltimore city.
So how would you say that VisitBaltimore is working on attracting visitors and
those important economic dollars incorporating those backinto the city. Well, quite frankly,
a lot change in our industry sincetwenty twenty when the whole role changed
and this industry was really really shutdown for almost two plush years, and
(03:05):
so we've been spending a lot ofour time to reopen this visitory economy as
we call it, which is veryvibrant. I mentioned third the fourth largest
business sector in the country. Butthe good news is we're slowly coming back.
We're not where we need to be. But if you look at twenty
twenty two, based on data thatwas collected by Longwoods International, about twenty
six million people visited Baltimore for bothovernight and day trips. They spent three
(03:30):
point seven billion dollars in the Baltimoreeconomy. That's very strong. So domestic
travel is beginning to come back andincreased almost ten percent and spending increased about
thirty nine percent. So the traveleris coming back. We are reopened.
We had more work to do,but we think the words out and our
spring and summer has been strong inBaltimore and we're really anticipating some really great
(03:54):
travel going into twenty twenty four andtwenty twenty five. We love and to
hear it. Al Hutchinson, Presidentand CEO of Visit Baltimore Baltimore dot org
online for all the information everything youneed to know. And I do feel
like after living here for quite afew years that Baltimore is just full of
surprises. Now. We know there'sso many proud Os and Ravens fans all
(04:14):
around here, but people are generallysurprised to find out that Baltimore is a
sports city. You don't really hearthat a lot of the time. I
think, would you agree with that? Well, I agree with you,
and I would say to your listenersthat Baltimore we're really a sports mecca you
think about. You mentioned the Os, you mentioned the Ravens, but you
know we're the home of lacrosse.We invented that game that started here in
(04:35):
the state of Marlin, so that'sa big deal to us. We know
basketball is very important, and wewere fortunate enough to woo the ci Double
A men's and women's basketball conference fromCharlotte, North Carolina. They had been
there for fifteen straight years and theycame to Baltimore their first tournament was in
twenty twenty two. It's a greatsuccess. But then last year's tournament about
(04:57):
almost thirty million economic impact to allcity. And the last week in February,
when typically you know, businesses area slow, hotel business is slow,
but hotels are sold out, restaurantswere jamming, and we had visitors
from all over the country coming toenjoy basketball, but also coming to enjoy
Baltimore City. And so also lastyear Labor Day weekend, we had the
(05:23):
first Roland Cycling Classic and that's comingback this Labor Day and that's a fantastic
event. It's international professional cyclists fromover twenty countries participated. The race begins
up in Baltimore County, but itfinishes in downtown Baltimore. Please come out
of this Labor Day to take partin the Cycling Classic. But it's a
(05:44):
vibrant events, great food's great drink. But you're gonna witness some of the
best cyclists from around the globe righthere in downtown Baltimore. So there's no
doubt sports is importance of Baltimore.It sort of transcends everything when you're looking
at sports, and that's it's importantfor us to bring as many sporting events
to Baltimore City as we can doabsolutely And I know one of the things
(06:06):
that I was really surprised about uponmoving here personally was how many major events
and festivals that Baltimore has. Imean, there's charm City Bluegrass Festival,
Preakness, the Fells Point Fun Festival, and so many more. So before
I let you go, I'd loveto know some of your favorite charm City
events and anything new that you mightbe able to tell us that is coming
down the pike. Well, youknow, as a destination marketer, I
(06:29):
have to say all those events Ienjoy. I can't really just pick pick
one. You're not going to pickyour favorite child, but no, I
don't want to do that. ButI can tell you all of those events
you mentioned, from Preakness to aframto Artscape, which is coming back this
fall, all of them are veryimportant to the vipracy of our city.
We need festivals because they bring peopleout, people spend money. But also
(06:53):
we've been sort of locked in ourhomes the last three years because of the
pandemic, and I think people reallywant to get back out. They want
to see each other, and thatsocial interaction is so important for us,
and so I will tell you thatwe're going to continue to bring more events
to Baltimore. You know, thePride Festival was a big hit this spring.
(07:14):
Now with the renovated CFG Bank Arena, you have more concerts and music
events coming to our community. Soldout music events coming to Baltimore. So
more to come on the festival front, and we're excited about where we're going.
We have great venues, the peoplein Baltimore some of the best in
the world, but we want tomake sure we bring our visitors in so
they can enjoy all the things thatyou and I enjoy here in Baltimore City.
(07:38):
Well, we're looking forward to it. Al Hutchinson, President CEO of
Visit Baltimore, thank you again somuch for joining me and chatting all about
our fabulous city. Thanks for invitingme, and have a great summer.
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