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March 19, 2021
Dear Valued Tourism Partners,
I hope many of you were able to watch Mayor Dyer’s virtual State of the City address this past Wednesday. He commended everyone for the hard work it has taken to get through this past year. He was optimistic and supportive of our industry and felt that, as a city, we are headed in a positive direction. He was grateful to the community for volunteering at the vaccination clinics to help get the vaccines in as many arms as possible. In case you missed it, you may view it here.
The CVB continues to follow weekly national researchers and we have more encouraging data to share this week. According to Destination Analysts' latest research:
- Americans' optimism about the course of the pandemic is up a staggering 40 percentage points since the start of the year, with 60.3% feeling things will get better in the next month.
- In looking at what attributes are important to travelers as they consider cities as places to visit, safety remains largely on top with 74.3% saying this is important.
- A relaxing environment, good weather, welcoming atmosphere, ease in getting around, and scenic beauty are also most critical.*
*Call me partial but that last bullet sounds like it was written specifically for Virginia Beach! 🙂
In anticipation of cleanliness and comfort playing a large part in the travel decision cycle for 2021, earlier this year we rolled out an awareness campaign as a follow-up to last summer's well-received program, Summer Smarter." “VB Smarter 2021” is YOUR connection to yet another free opportunity to appear on our tourism website which received 7.4 million pageviews last year alone. The dedicated landing page for VB Smarter showcases all registered Virginia Beach businesses that have enhanced their cleanliness protocols for employees and guests. More than 80 businesses have already signed up! Register by taking the 2021 VB Smarter Pledge. In doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to share your businesses’ most current cleanliness protocols with visitors to our website through your business listing. If you haven’t signed up yet, don’t wait - register here.
Finally, kudos to WVEC Channel 13 for their interest in covering a story on how the Sports Center events are contributing to the hotel economy to the tune of about 13,000 room nights. Thanks to Reporter Adrianna De Alba and the 13 News Now crew. Watch the broadcast clip here.
My team and I are here; please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Nancy Helman
CVB Interim Director
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