As airline prices begin to drop significantly for the first time in two years, D.C. is one of the top-booked domestic destinations for the fall, according to travel site Travelocity.

Washington ranked eighth of the site’s top domestic travel spots, according to editor-at-large Amy Ziff. The ranking comes at a time when domestic airfare for Labor Day is down 1.2 percent, and down 3 percent for the fall season.

“The intriguing thing about Labor Day is it’s kind of the last gasp of people who suddenly realize summer is gone and the kids are going back to school,” said Lon Anderson, spokesman for the mid-Atlantic chapter of the American Automobile Association.

Fall, by contrast, provides a time for travelers such as empty nesters to visit the area without having to deal with crowds of families with school-aged children, he said.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Ziff said the decline in air prices is the first major one in two years after a phenomenal peak in travel volume.

“The system has been stressed by incredible demand, so a little bit of weakness actually means good news for the consumer,” Ziff said. “The real question is whether or not the downward pricing will continue.”

Besides the typical attractions such as monuments and the White House, the fall is a particularly strong time for culturally minded travelers to visit DC, according to Rebecca Pawlowski, director of communications for the Washington D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation.

The Kennedy Center will host its Prelude Festival, as well as the Page-To-Stage festival Labor Day Weekend, Pawlowski noted.

The National Symphony stages a concert on the Mall over the weekend as well.

As fall approaches, tourists can visit many new exhibitions at the area museums, such as the Corcoran’s showings of the works of Annie Leibovitz and Ansel Adams.

The Shakespeare Theater’s Harman Center opens in October, and the National Book Festival draws tourists in September.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com