Thousands of conferencegoers typically flow from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center into National Harbor’s shops and restaurants, but as those stores reopen and try to welcome back customers, the mammoth hotel’s ongoing closure has hurt the area’s recovery from the pandemic.
Hotels and restaurants in National Harbor have seen business start to come back as Maryland has proceeded through the phases of reopening, and the MGM National Harbor resort casino and Tanger Outlets have reopened. But business owners, developers and economic development officials say the lack of activity from the Gaylord has stunted the area’s progress.
“The three foundational anchors of National Harbor are the Gaylord, Tanger and MGM, and each of them contributes to the overall demand for hotels and retail and restaurants,” Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. CEO David Iannucci said. “With the Gaylord not being open, you have one leg of that three-legged stool that’s making things a little less stable than everyone would like.”
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