Baltimore is a city in constant transition. Over the last decade, it’s been quietly reinventing itself, developing a brand that builds on its superior but often unrecognized offerings.
Yet this spring, Baltimore found itself in the middle of some difficult national headlines. Freddie Gray, a Baltimore man arrested by city police, died in custody, sparking several days of civil protests and sometimes-violent backlash.
“We saw some groups cancel in the first 10 days of the events,” says Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “We also had a couple citywide conventions that were taking place during the time of the unrest, and they continued on. One of those actually had record attendance.”
Just a few weeks earlier, Visit Baltimore had launched “My BMore,” a meetings and tourism advertising campaign highlighting well-known personalities with strong ties to the city, such as actor Josh Charles and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. As the events unfolded, Visit Baltimore decided to pull the campaign and evaluate it for necessary adjustments.
“For about six weeks or so, we were out of the advertising campaign business,” Noonan says. “We really kind of morphed ourselves into more of a service organization.”
Visit Baltimore plugged its resources into the community, helping raise funds for OneBaltimore, an initiative of local leaders facilitating recovery efforts for both the short and long term.
Has the city lost business? Noonan guesses it has, but the success of Baltimore’s recovery effort shows.
“I was thinking the [impact] was going to be greater than it has been—not to say that it hasn’t been significant,” he says. “But we’re not off 20 or 30 points. We’re off maybe five, maybe seven.”
Six weeks later, “My BMore” relaunched with minor changes, getting Baltimore back in the game—if it ever really left. Not a single one of the record 29 conventions scheduled in Baltimore for 2015 canceled, and the destination continues to shine with personality, value and transformative insight into the American imagination.
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Value Meets Luxury
Baltimore is an East Coast urban center with a full range of accommodations in historic and waterfront properties. It’s a 45-minute drive from the nation’s capital and less than four hours from Manhattan. There’s an amazing range of culinary and nightlife offerings within easy walking distance of the newly renovated Baltimore Convention Center.
Attendees rave about the customer service in this hidden gem of a destination, according to Noonan, who adds that it’s also remarkably affordable for a city with so many amenities.
“There are 18 value metrics that people look after in meetings,” he says. “We are number one or two in at least 14 of them. We’re a value destination. Our product is a great buy for the price.”
Progress Makes Perfect
Because of that financial accessibility, visitors can luxuriate in the many boutique accommodations and eateries opening up around the city.
There’s the 18-room Ivy Hotel in Mount Vernon, a former Gilded Age mansion that underwent an $18 million transformation. Magdalena, the on-site restaurant, features award-winning, classically trained Mark Levy as its executive chef. The hotel also offers a variety of event spaces for meetings.
Meanwhile, Horseshoe Casino is located next to the NFL Baltimore Ravens’ home, M&T Bank Stadium. The casino is an impressive $440 million venture making its presence known not only as a gaming destination but as a group-friendly meetings venue. It offers a range of restaurants, from quick and casual to the upscale Jack Binion’s Steak.
Additionally, in partnership with several of the city’s trending attractions, there’s an expanding range of experiential tours available to groups seeking adventure. Participants can explore teambuilding exercises amid nature, get hands-on experience making a Neapolitan pizza, go behind the scenes at the National Aquarium or dig deep into the life of Edgar Allan Poe.
From refurbishing historical landmarks to the planned development of new neighborhoods, Baltimore is expanding on several other fronts.
This summer, the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy completed a $5.5 million restoration project for Baltimore’s Washington Monument, the nation’s first monument dedicated to George Washington as well as the original focal point of Mount Vernon Place, an urban green space designed at the close of the War of 1812.
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The monument was rededicated on Independence Day 2015, 200 years after its original cornerstone was laid. The landmark is now open to visitors looking to make the 227-step climb to the top of the structure for a gorgeous view of the historic neighborhood.
The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will be wrapping up a multiyear series of renovations this October with the opening of its $4.5 million Center for People & Art (CP&A), a new area in the museum designed to get viewers interacting with art. Imagining Home, the gallery’s crowning exhibition, offers a multimedia examination of how people conceptualize and manifest our living spaces. The CP&A also provides a gathering space and studio for workshops and other hands-on events for art lovers of every age.
The city also has much larger projects in the works. Currently in the first of three phases set to be finished in 2022, the 27-acre Harbor Point neighborhood will occupy the last significant undeveloped area on the Inner Harbor.
“You’re eventually going to see five or six buildings sitting there, high-rise buildings, condo towers, apartment towers, office buildings, parks, a school, more restaurants and more retail,” Noonan says. “Think about Harbor East doubling in size.”
Besides bringing in more attractions, the development will add significant visual appeal to the city skyline.
“All you’re going to see is high-rise beautiful glass buildings and that finishing look all around the harbor,” Noonan says.
Seeing Is Believing
One of the largest challenges for Baltimore’s CVB is getting the destination on a planner’s radar.
“Sometimes I’ll go make a sales call in Chicago, and I’m meeting with association customers who’ve never been to Baltimore, who don’t know anything about Baltimore. How is that possible?” Noonan says. “Then they come in, and they see it, and they tell me, ‘I had no idea Baltimore was this great!’
