More than 210 city, community, corporate and hospitality industry leaders convened in the Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 8 to hear CVB Director Brad Van Dommelen’s presentation on the state of the travel and tourism industry.
To kick off the luncheon, Mayor Sessoms spoke of exciting times in store for Virginia Beach. Director Van Dommelen paid special tribute to Ruth Smith for her service to the city since 1978 and wished her well in her retirement.
One of the city’s strongest economic drivers, the travel and tourism industry is very much alive and well. According to U.S. Travel Association, a record 1.49 billion in direct travel-related expenditures were generated in Virginia Beach during the 2016 calendar year.
Other data highlights from the presentation include:
*Annual visitation to Virginia Beach grew to 15.2 million
*More than 13,600 jobs in Virginia Beach were directly supported by the hospitality industry
*Convention Center attendance surpassed 622,000 guests
The CVB staff would like to thank our partners for their contribution to the event’s success, including the staff at Distinctive Gourmet who provided excellent service and an outstanding meal, the VBPD for their impressive color guard ceremony and Chaplain Don Hipple for his insightful benediction before the meal.
The support of City Council, department directors and city staff is always appreciated at this event and this year, record numbers of all were in attendance. Thank you to all for your continued support.
