D.C. Hotel Industry a Casualty of Federal Government Shutdown

Like death and taxes, one thing is certain: a federal government shutdown is no good for hotels in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. This was borne out over the course of the 35-day shutdown, from December 22nd, 2018, to January 25th, 2019, which dealt a crushing blow to profitability for D.C. hotels, resulting in an 88.8-percent year-on-year drop in GOPPAR for the market during the month of January as a whole. Many factors prompted the precipitous drop, including the closure of the iconic Smithsonian museums, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. These, combined with delays at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport, culminated in…