Visit Baltimore Recaps Fiscal Year and Highlights Upcoming Development Projects at 2022 Annual Meeting

BALTIMORE, MD – Visit Baltimore, the official destination sales and marketing organization for the city of Baltimore, held its annual meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Horseshoe Casino. This year’s meeting recapped Visit Baltimore’s 2022 Fiscal Year and explored the theme of “Building the Future of Tourism” through a panel discussion emphasizing several major development projects around Baltimore city. 

Nearly 400 hospitality industry professionals, elected officials and local stakeholders attended the meeting which highlighted Baltimore’s tourism industry recovery along with Visit Baltimore’s sales, marketing and communication efforts over the past fiscal year. Looking towards recovery, visitation to Baltimore is returning. In 2021, domestic travel to Baltimore increased by 13.3%, bringing in 24.3 million people for overnight and day trips and contributing a total of $2.7 billion to Baltimore city’s economy. 

“This past year was a year of rebuilding Baltimore’s tourism industry following the challenges caused by the pandemic,” said Al Hutchinson, President &CEO of Visit Baltimore. “As we look at recovery for Baltimore, the Visit Baltimore team has been strategically aligning our efforts with our true purpose, which is to not only improve quality of life for our visitors but also for our community by driving economic impact that goes back into our city.” 

Speakers included Charles “Chuck” Tildon III, Chair of the Baltimore Convention & Tourism Board; Brandon M. Scott, Mayor of Baltimore city; Nick Mosby, President of the Baltimore City Council; Al Hutchinson, President & CEO of Visit Baltimore; and Randy Conroy, General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Horseshoe Casino. 

Aaron Dante, host of the award-winning podcast, “No Pix After Dark”, moderated a panel discussion with Cherrie Woods of the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, representing Lexington Market; Arthur Adler, of Caves Valley Partners, representing Warner Street Entertainment District; Matt Jahromi, of MAG Partners, representing Port Covington; and Kory Bailey, of UpSurge, who spoke about Baltimore’s burgeoning Equitech movement. 

To conclude the meeting, Margot Amelia, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of the National Aquarium presented the inaugural Charm City Champion Award, a special honor given to a well-respected leader in the city whose work touches many aspects of tourism and the community, to recently-retired Baltimore Police Department Major Milton L. Corbett. Amelia also presented the Bridge Award which recognizes the contributions of those who help advance the understanding and practice of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the hospitality industry, to recipients Donte Johnson, General Manager of Hotel Revival and Juan Webster, General Manager of the Sagamore Pendry Baltimore. 

Finally, the William Donald Schaefer Visionary Tourism Award, which honors local leaders whose dedication to Baltimore has uplifted tourism throughout the community, was presented to John Racanelli, President & CEO of The National Aquarium for his unwavering commitment to the aquarium’s conservation efforts and the attraction’s positive impact on Baltimore city as a visitor destination.  

About Visit Baltimore  

Visit Baltimore is the official sales and marketing arm for the City of Baltimore. The 501(c)(6) non-profit organization generates economic benefits for stakeholders through the attraction of convention, group and leisure visitors. In 2021, 24.3 million people visited Baltimore for overnight and day trips spending a total of $2.7 billion to Baltimore’s economy. For more information, please visit Baltimore.org.