NBA Washington Wizards
Discounted upper and lower level seating for all regular season games...>>

D.C. Wine and Food Festival
The Washington D.C. International Wine & Food Festival features 150 wineries pouring 600 wines from around the world. See live cooking demonstrations by Andreas Viestad, Martin Yan and Christina Pirello as they create their favorite recipes. Purchase your tickets online by this Friday and get $10 off Saturday or Sunday Grand Tasting tickets with Promo Code CVB10.

FotOBAMA Week Photography Contest 
FotoWeek DC and the Newseum have partnered to share some of the best Obama snapshots with the rest of the world. The top 100 winning images, selected by The Newseum's panel of judges, will be exhibited at The Newseum for three months in summer 2009. Cash prizes total $5,000 and 100 winning images will be published in a limited edition book sponsored by FotoWeek DC. Contest deadline is March 15, 2009. Visit the FotoWeek DC website for more information.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM ANNUAL ARTrageous BENEFIT 
Spend a fabulous evening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum at this event. Highlights of the evening include an opportunity to meet artists from across the country, a buffet dinner reception, live music, dancing, and mingling in museum galleries. The event takes place Feb. 26 at 7:30pm. Purchase tickets online or call 202-633-4550. Destination DC members can attend at the museum members rate, a 20% discount. Email SAAMDevelopment@si.edu with any questions. 
 
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR, AMERICAN EXPRESS
Reach Business Travelers Before They Arrive to Washington, DC
American Express would like to offer restaurant merchants six months of free advertising on American Express Business Travelers itineraries. Selected merchants will benefit from cardmembers seeing their restaurant details directly next to their travel details. There is no obligation to purchase additional advertising. This opportunity is available on a first-come, first-serve basis and limited space is available. To enroll, click here and fax completed form to Victoria Jackson at 800-710-9516.

Help American Express Provide Clean Water to Children Around the World
From March 22-28, American Express is proud to support the Tap Project, a nationwide effort led by top restaurants to help UNICEF provide clean water to children around the world who lack access.  Participating restaurants are provided with a Tap Project toolkit that encourages them to ask their patrons to donate $1 (or more) for the tap water usually served for free. Each dollar raised can be used to provide clean drinking water for a child for 40 days.  Major market public relations, marketing and promotions are taking place to create attention for this worthwhile effort and to drive traffic into your restaurant all week long.  Register now at tapproject.org to participate. If you agree to raise $500 or more through your establishment, you will be featured in a national USA Today ad.

February Monthly Forum
The next Monthly Forum will take place on Feb. 24 from 9-11am at the Lincoln Theater. Topics will include the National Cherry Blossom Festival and Passport DC. Click here to register. For more information, please contact Ashley Richards at 202-789-7009.

Breakfast with Bill
Join Destination DC's President and CEO, Bill Hanbury, for breakfast at 15 Squares Restaurant in the Renaissance Washington, DC hotel on March 3 from 8:30-10:00am. Space is limited and RSVPs are required. For more information, contact Alison Rittenberg at 202-789-7034.

Save the Date: 2009 Marketing Outlook Meeting
Destination DC's 2009 Marketing Outlook Meeting is scheduled for July 23 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Stay tuned for more details.

Door Prizes and Exhibit Tables
If you are interested in having an exhibit table or donating a door prize for the next Business Exchange, please contact Ashley Richards at 202-789-7009. This is a great opportunity to showcase your company to Destination DC members.

When is the next Destination DC Member Event?
View our Member Events Calendar here. It lists all upcoming events and has a direct link to the invite.

Interested in hosting a Monthly Forum or Business Exchange?
Please contact Ashley Richards at 202-789-7009 for more information.

Cherry Picks
Destination DC invites you to join in the 2009 National Cherry Blossom Festival by participating in the annual Cherry Picks restaurant promotion, which showcases the culinary creativity of DC area chefs and restaurateurs by highlighting cherry-flavored and blossom-inspired dishes during the festival. To participate, fill out this enrollment form. For more information contact Koelling Borneman at 202-789-7098.

Destination DC calculations using the following data sources.
*Website Visitation: Google Analytics (transitioned to new tool during FY08)
Website Revenue: Ares, TravelHero
Convention: Destination DC internal database
Domestic Earned Media: Burelle’s Luce Insight
Inquiries and Brochure Distribution: Destination DC internal database

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

1,350,043

1%

17,624,971

-5%

255,000

3%

3,259,723

3%

Religious Conference Management Association (RCMA)
Destination DC’s Sharmane Fernandez and Mike Jackson showcased Washington DC to more than 600 meeting planners at RCMA conference, which took place Jan. 27-30 in Grand Rapid, MI. Several hotel partners were also on hand, including Rhonda Walker of Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Tawanda Marufu of Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, George Yin of Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill and John Puglisi of Hyatt Crystal City. Destination DC returned with over 15 leads for future business for the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Sponsors: Marriott Hotels & Resorts - International, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Hyatt Regency Washington

New York Media Mission
Destination DC's public relations team traveled to New York Feb. 3-4 for its annual media event. DC's international side was the focus of this year's events, which consisted of a dinner featuring DC chefs and culinary personalities and a lunch at Chinese hotspot Shang Restaurant. Approximately 60 leading travel and lifestyle writers and editors took part in the events, generating more media coverage for DC in the future. Partners included Cultural Tourism DC, DC Office of Motion Picture and TV Development, Downtown BID, Fairmont, Four Seasons, International Spy Museum, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, The Liaison Capitol Hill, Library of Congress, Loews Madison Hotel, Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association, Marriott Hotels of Washington, DC, National Geographic Museum, Park Hyatt Washington, ThreeLockharts Communications and the Washington Convention Center Authority.

• The Roof Terrace Restaurant at the Kennedy Center is proud to announce the appointment of long time DC chef Vatche Benguian as Chef de Cuisine. Hailing from such renowned restaurants as Les Halles, Blue Duck Tavern and La Colline, Benguian has been a member of the DC restaurant scene since 1978.