D.C. neared record tourism for Fourth festivities, boosting economic optimism [View all]

Last edited Sat Jul 11, 2026, 05:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Washington Post

D.C. neared record tourism for Fourth festivities, boosting economic optimism

Hundreds of thousands came to the city to celebrate despite a heat wave, with hotel occupancy at 96 percent.

July 11, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. EDT Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT
8 min


Visitors wait to enter the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on July 4. (Tom Brenner/For The Washington Post)

By Sophia Solano
Washington was in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave when Victoria Saccaro arrived to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend. But Saccaro was determined to make the most of her trip. Not only did she go the National Mall to see fireworks and museums, but she also caught a baseball game at Nationals Park, visited Irish pubs and sat in the famous Nixon booth at Martin's Tavern.

On the holiday, she and a friend stayed out until 3 a.m., which she described as "way, way past" her bedtime. ... "It was just like a big street party," said Saccaro, 66, who traveled to D.C. from St. Petersburg, Florida. ... She was among the hundreds of thousands of people who came to D.C. to partake in festivities, making for brisk business for local hotels, restaurants and bars. Some visitors celebrated at lavish events, including a fireworks watch party at the Watergate Hotel where tables for four went for as much as $30,000.

America's 250th birthday celebration in Washington significantly outperformed past years' Independence Day tourism, according to data released this week. ... The semiquincentennial saw a 17 percent increase from the hotel occupancy average for the Fourth, just shy of a record set in 2015.

Festivities in downtown D.C. on July 4 drew huge crowds, though the two-week Great American State Fair, which kicked off June 25, was much more sparsely attended. ...bA concert series was planned for the fair's opening, but several performers pulled out, citing concerns that the event was becoming too partisan under the leadership of the Freedom 250 organization, a nonprofit closely aligned with President Donald Trump. ... The program was reshuffled when Trump decided to headline the event himself with a speech.

{snip}

Liam Scott contributed to this report.

By Sophia Solano
Sophia Solano is a reporter on the Metro desk covering local higher education and culture. Previously, she was an editorial aide in Features, author of the House of the Week column and reporter for the Going Out Guide and Style sections. She joined The Post in 2022.follow on X@sophiansolano
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/sophia-solano/

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/07/11/big-street-party-america-250-drew-huge-crowds-dc-boost-economy/

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I too find this odd. I'm not a subscriber. I waded through a few comments. I think the data came from CoStar. That's a subscription site. This might be the article about Fourth of July tourism.

https://www.costar.com/article/505049911/america250-celebrations-produce-world-cup-level-growth-spurts-across-east-coast-hotels

Expect the article to be challenged.