National Harbor to open newest resort
Wyndham time shares to add 250 rooms, $49M impact
National Harbor on Tuesday will celebrate the planned opening of its newest resort hotel, which will employ 100 workers and which officials anticipate generating $48.6 million in annual economic impact for the region.
Wyndham Vacation Resorts at National Harbor, part of the Wyndham Vacation Ownership and parent company Wyndham Worldwide Corp. of New Jersey, adds 250 rooms including 42 presidential suites to the nearly 2,700 existing rooms at the Oxon Hill mixed-use project on the banks of the Potomac. Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center accounts for 2,000 of these rooms. The Wyndham is scheduled to open in the first week of February and has sold about 75 percent of its rooms, including sellouts through Presidents Day Weekend, according to company information.
"The National Harbor complex is tremendously important for us, since the new trend among our time-share holders is visiting urban areas," said Lisa Burby, spokeswoman for Wyndham. "We're excited to help out with the growth of the area."
Hotels in the Wyndham Vacation Ownership group function more as private suites with amenities such as kitchens, offering a more "holistic" approach to vacationing, Burby said. She said the average time-share holder spends $1,700 per visit. The resort hosts a health and fitness club, indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, an outdoor terrace with a spa and wading pool, and a recreation room.
J. Matthew Neitzey, executive director of Prince George's County Conference and Visitors Bureau, said he hopes this different style of hotel will generate even more than the estimated $48.6 million in annual economic impact, as its visitors are more likely to shop around the area than other hotel visitors might.
"It's another aspect of the travel and tourism market that we don't have here in Prince George's," he said. "This group only sets up in strong visitor destinations, so it's a strong indicator of Prince George's status in the tourism world."
Burby said National Harbor's Wyndham will be her company's only newly built property to open worldwide this year. She said the 100 local employees were hired through a recent job fair that drew 2,500 candidates.
"The fact that our National Harbor property is more than 75 percent sold out is a testament to the popularity of our urban properties and the Washington D.C. area," said Franz Hanning, CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, in a statement.
National Harbor's Wyndham will be the time-share chain's first in Maryland. The next closest is the Wyndham Old Town Alexandria in Virginia.
The hotel is also partnering with The Fishing School, offering $25,000 to help with the Washington, D.C., nonprofit's after-school education and enrichment program. Wyndham will also host students and their families at the resort four times a year for a three-night vacation as a reward for top quarterly performances.
Wyndham Worldwide reported $104 million in net income for the third quarter, on sales of $1 billion. This was down from $142 million and $1.2 billion, respectively, in the prior-year quarter.