Destination DC's Sustainability District Surpasses 50 Members

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Venues & Destinations
Destination DC's Sustainability District Surpasses 50 Members

10/28/2024
WASHINGTON, DC — Destination DC (DDC), the official destination marketing organization for Washington, DC, today announced that more than 50 members have joined its Sustainability District. The initiative promotes local businesses in tourism and hospitality that have prioritized practices to become a more sustainable place to live, visit and meet.

“Besides being the right thing to do for our planet, focusing on sustainability is good business, too,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO, DDC. “The global community has expectations of destinations and venues they utilize for meetings and events. We are excited to create a program that easily identifies businesses excelling in sustainability.”

The Sustainability District showcases DC businesses with clear initiatives, supporting the city's mission and benefiting the community. It includes six categories—hotels, attractions, transportation, venues, restaurants, and DMCs—for event planners and attendees to easily identify participating businesses.

DDC’s Senior Manager of Sustainability, Shelby Luzzi, leads the Sustainability District. The program reiterates that even small efforts by businesses can create a ripple effect citywide, so large changes are not necessary to make a positive environmental impact. “We want visitors to understand how the local hospitality industry minimizes its footprint, therefore minimizing travelers’ impact,” said Luzzi.

Current Sustainability District businesses are:

Accommodations

Canopy Washington DC The Wharf
Eaton DC
Embassy Suites Washington, DC-Convention Center
Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown
Grand Hyatt Washington
Hyatt House Washington, D.C./The Wharf
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
JW Marriott Washington, DC
Kimpton George Hotel
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC
Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
Park Hyatt Washington
The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City
Rosewood Washington, D.C.
Royal Sonesta Washington DC Capitol Hill
Washington Hilton
Westin Washington, DC Downtown
Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C.
Yours Truly DC

Transportation & Tours

Circuit
City Cruises
REI Co-Op Experiences
Old Town Trolley Tours
USA Guided Tours
WeVenture

Eat & Drink

Ambar Capitol Hill
Ambar Shaw
Chopt Creative Salad Co.
Fava Pot
Fogo de Chão
RASA Ballpark
RASA Mount Vernon
Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Co.
Shilling Canning Company

Things to Do

The Fresh Food Factory Market
Jo Malone London
National Children's Museum
Swingers, The Crazy Golf Club
Tanger National Harbor
Tudor Place Historic House & Garden

Venues

American Geophysical Union Conference Center
American University Conference and Guest Services
The Anthem
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater
Capital Turnaround
The Catholic University of American Events & Conferences
Friends Meeting of Washington
Merriweather Post Pavilion
National Press Club
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington Nationals

Destination Management Companies & Housing

CSI DMC Washington
Hosts Global DC
Linder Global Events
TripZero: Housing for Sustainable Events

Examples of Sustainable Practices

National Children’s Museum uses recycled materials for signage and features the “Climate Action Heroes” exhibit, which educates families about sustainability in an engaging, age-appropriate way.
Eaton DC maintains a sustainability committee, composts food waste, monitors energy usage with a blackout schedule and repurposes headboards.
Washington Hilton donates $100,000 worth of excess banquet food annually to local partners and composts 68,000 pounds of food waste, which is resold through the ORCA program.
Marriott Marquis offers a sustainability concierge.
Restaurants like Rocklands and Shilling Canning Company feature urban gardens and menu items like blue catfish to help remove invasive species from local waterways.

Washington, DC Sustainability The Sustainability District builds on Washington, DC’s success in the sustainability sector. DDC’s goals align with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s forthcoming Sustainable DC 3.0 initiative, looking to make DC the “healthiest, greenest, most livable city.”

Washington, DC is the first LEED Platinum City in the world, housing the most LEED-certified buildings in the U.S., such as the newly named LEED Platinum Walter E. Washington Convention Center, LEED Silver Washington Nationals ballpark, and the LEED Neighborhood Development of the Wharf.
DC is the first city in the country to establish a Green Bank, which funds projects that expand renewable energy, reduce emissions and create green jobs. Additionally, the city has planted more than 13,470 trees as of 2021.
DC is the first jurisdiction in North America to launch a bike-share system and 90 percent of the Metrobus fleet consists of hybrid electric vehicles or those that use alternative fuels.
The Trust for Public Land released its annual ParkScore Index, which evaluated the park systems of the nation's 100 most populous cities. For the fourth consecutive year, Washington, DC is first.

DDC’s sustainability mission is built on three pillars: people, purpose, and place.

“Pillars reflect the social, economic and environmental factors we consider when attracting visitors and business events to the District,” said Luzzi. “‘People’ highlights DC’s culture and includes workforce development. ‘Purpose’ focuses on equitable distribution of tourism dollars, and ‘place’ addresses the role of travel in climate change and the impact on our destination.”

For the fourth consecutive year, Washington, DC ranks first in the U.S. and among the top 10 in North America in the 2024 Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-I), which measures 77 indicators across environmental, social, supplier and DMO categories.

DDC’s supplier and DMO scores improved by 120% and 31%, thanks to the Sustainability District and new Sustainability Policy. In partnership with the Department of Energy and Environment, DDC’s annual GDS-I participation highlights its leadership and transparency in sustainability efforts.

The GDS-I has over 110 international members. In 2021 and 2022, DC was the only U.S. destination to participate in this program, but Tucson, Arizona and Rapid City, South Dakota joined the initiative in 2023.

Additionally, DDC sustainability initiatives include the DEI Business Fellows program that was recognized with the Innovation Award by the Global Destination Sustainability-Movement (2023). The program, alongside DDC's DEI programming, leads the 100 destinations participating in the Index.

About Destination DC
Destination DC, the official destination marketing organization for the nation’s capital, is a private, non-profit membership organization committed to marketing the area as a premier global convention, tourism and special events destination with a special emphasis on the arts, cultural and historic communities. www.washington.org

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