What should visitors experience in Baltimore?
History and culture! We have Fort McHenry and the Flag House, the birthplace of the Star-Spangled Banner. Waterfront access means you are able to see the beauty of the city.
We have arts, culture and the most important thing is that people make it.
At Lexington Market, everything is homegrown with small business owners and you feel like the neighbour’s neighbour is someone you’re supporting.
International travellers might wonder what type of place they’re going to walk into – whether it’s one of these large cities where so many people run around, sort of like on a hamster wheel, where it doesn’t have personality. You feel like you belong here, no matter where you’re from.
What sports tourism does Baltimore offer?
Baltimore is a city that truly embraces sports, whether you’re catching the Ravens or Orioles in two of the most iconic venues in the country, experiencing the excitement of the Preakness Stakes, or attending one of the many major sporting events that choose Baltimore as their stage throughout the year.
We have what we call RavensWalk. RavensWalk is a sort of gathering of people who start to corral to get into the stadium. There’s such a buzz coming in. RavensWalk connects the downtown corridor and Federal Hill, so a lot of people go into different bars and pubs before the game and use it as a meet-and-greet, tailgating type of place. Then they walk to enjoy the fanfare of the game.
There’s nobody that I’ve met that’s into baseball – MLB – that hasn’t got Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles, on their bucket list.
We have the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, which is awesome. He is one of the most famous baseball players ever.
When you walk around Camden Yards, it’s amazing to see the footprints when you’re walking around the stadium. They mark where baseballs were hit out of the park for home runs. There’s so much pride that we try to create those memorable moments here. International travellers can feel like they’re getting a little piece of something they can’t get anywhere else.
What food and drink should people try in Baltimore?
You can’t come here without trying either crab cake or blue crab in some form. Try cracking the blue crabs and get someone to help you!
We have a number of places with great crab cakes, including Faidley’s Seafood at Lexington Market and Koco’s Pub in Downtown Baltimore.
You have to try an Orange Crush, Maryland’s official state cocktail, or a Natty Boh beer. Natty Boh [National Bohemian] is headquartered here. You can walk around the harbour and you’ll see imagery of Natty Boh all over the place.
Our culinary scene is unmatched. We have a lot of people who have come here to either start or open restaurants.
What should visitors do if they have extra time to explore the soul of the city?
Most people don’t know that we have over 250 neighbourhoods here: that’s more than D.C., Chicago and many other cities within the country.
There’s something here for everyone. I love to go to Mount Vernon because of the historic features there. Fell’s Point, down on the water, has a bunch of boutique shops, restaurants and bars that have been open for over 75 years, and the large Pendry Hotel. It’s one of the top 10 luxury hotels on the East Coast.
What selling tips can you suggest to travel agents?
As an international traveller, your money goes further for a luxury experience. When you look at the hotel rooms and the rates comparable to some other large cities, whereas you might go elsewhere for four days, you could have six or seven here. We have so many things that you can do that are affordable.
We have festivals that pretty much run from Memorial Day weekend (the last Monday in May) all the way through to late September. It’s a great time to come here because the weather is probably going to be decent. The waterfront access is wonderful; it’s great to walk around and see the tall ships come through. We have the likes of the Wine Village in Baltimore and the Baltimore by Baltimore music festival.
There’s always something going on in the surrounding neighbourhood. When you take an Uber or taxi ride, everything is 10 to 12 minutes from anything else that you want to get to.
We usually have over 50 conventions a year here and we’re always trying to bring more. Many international attendees book extra days before or after conventions. We’re encouraging all of our conventioneers booking our convention centre to talk about what we have for international travellers.
Why are you a member of the new Maryland International Marketing Partnership?
In 2024, 28.5 million people came through Baltimore. Out of those people, 80% also spent money in other places in the state, which means we are a gateway to people coming into Maryland. People don’t just come to us, they go to other counties as well.
There are so many things within a two-hour train ride north or south of here. You can do it all within a week, see everything you want, hit three cities and have a great time.
