Visit Baltimore Unveils New Mobile Visitor Center at the 149th Preakness Stakes
BALTIMORE, MD – Visit Baltimore, the official destination sales and marketing organization for Baltimore City, today announced the launch of its Mobile Visitor Center and will serve as traveling hub for learning about Baltimore’s attractions, hotels, cuisine, arts and culture.
The Mobile Visitor Center is designed to be an extension of the Baltimore community and a microcosm of what visitors will experience when they come to our city. It has the flexibility to convey a variety of activations that authentically reflect Baltimore to audiences at regional and out of state events.
The Baltimore Visitor Center, located along the water on the Inner Harbor Promenade is a one-stop-shop where tourists can create their ideal Baltimore itinerary, ask questions of our staff and experience a glimpse of the neighborhoods and attractions both within and outside of the downtown core.
“The Mobile Visitor Center serves as another way we can bring the Baltimore experience to audiences outside of the harbor, the region and even the state with the flexibility to reach people in the communities where they live, work and play,” said Al Hutchinson, President and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “Just like with our brand, it’s important that we create something that the community can see themselves in – something that speaks to Baltimore’s rich history, arts, diversity and culture.”
The Mobile Visitor Center is designed to resemble iconic Baltimore brick and formstone row homes. The structure will tell the story of Baltimore’s history and community of makers and entrepreneurs, featuring elements including a mural that reflects Baltimore’s musical roots by Ernest Shaw; a replica “Greatest City in America” bench created by Goodwood Designs built with material from Camp Small which sources reclaimed wood from rowhomes; a custom ghost sign celebrating Baltimore as “A City
of Firsts”; an authentic ceramic Camark “Climbing Cat“ which grew in popularity in the 50s as a decorative home accent that was especially popular in the Lauraville, Highlandtown, Hampden, Waverly, and Walther neighborhoods; and rowhouse numbers 2131 (Cal Ripken Jr.’s consecutive game record breaker) and 1814 (the year the Star Spangled Banner was penned by Francis Scott Key in the Baltimore Harbor).
The Visit Baltimore Mobile Visitor Center will be unveiled for the first time during the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 18, in the Infield during Preakness LIVE. Activations throughout the day will include a giveaway of dried flower boutonnieres from local florist Crimson and Clover, self-care products from Mount Royal Soaps, and snowballs featuring homemade egg custard and other flavors from the Peggy at Walther Gardens, the oldest continually operating snowball stand in the country.
About Visit Baltimore
Visit Baltimore is the official sales and destination marketing arm for the City of Baltimore. The 501(c)(6) non-profit organization generates economic benefits for the city through the attraction of convention, group and leisure visitors. In 2023, 27.5 million people visited Baltimore for overnight and day trips, contributing $4 billion to Baltimore’s economy. For more information, please visit Baltimore.org.