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February 17, 2023
Dear Valued Tourism Partners,
I was glad to see so many familiar faces this week! A huge shout out to Teri Wiley and team for an outstanding event at The Wyndham on Wednesday for the 2023 Coastal Virginia Hospitality Expo. The VBCVB was proud to be a room sponsor again this year and also had staff on hand to support the event. Great job, everyone!
As everyone has likely heard by now, our partners at Live Nation made a MAJOR announcement earlier this week. They promise to “bring country music back to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront” with “BEACH IT!,” a festival featuring headliners Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett. The three-day festival will take place June 23 - 25, 2023 and includes dozens of live acts including artists featured in “Next From Nashville,” a stacked second-stage lineup of trending and exciting newcomers in country music. Passes go on sale this Tues., Feb 21 at 10 am. Read all the details about the festival and ticketing info in the official press release or check out the landing page on Visit Virginia Beach here.
Marcomm Media Pitch Lands Virginia Beach in The Wall Street Journal It was exciting to hear we hit a home run recently during a media pitch which resulted in coverage of our partner, local food journalist Patrick Evans Hylton and the ViBe District’s Zoe’s restaurant in The Wall Street Journal. This story also ran in The Wall Street Journal’s Print edition. As many of you know, Patrick is a Johnson & Wales-trained chef and an award-winning food journalist, covering tasty trends since 1995 in print, broadcast, and electronic media. He is publisher of Virginia Eats + Drinks. In more exciting news, Katie Skrzek featured Virginia Beach festivals in “2023 Festivals in Virginia Beach” on Trazee Travel.
Nominations Open for Hospitality Heroes - Nominations for this year’s hospitality heroes in more than 10 different categories are now open so be sure to get your nominations in today! The online form may be found here. Remember, there is no fee to nominate, and nominations are open to anyone working in the Virginia Beach hospitality industry, your staff and those at your favorite places included! All nominees are invited as guests to the luncheon (May 11 at the Convention Center) which is being headlined this year by local radio personality “Some Guy Named Allen” from FM 106.1. Nomination deadline is March 1, 2023.
VBthrive Small Business Grant Program - Applications for the fourth and final round of the VBthrive Small Business Grant program will close on Feb. 28, 2023, at 11:59 pm. Most eligibility and use of funds guidelines have remained the same except now applicants can submit eligible expenses up to December 31, 2022. Click here to visit the VBthrive website.
Sales Activity - Jamie Mitchell and Scott Warren conducted site visits last week with clients and Jamie has another one this week. Scott joins Dee Mittman, Amy Overstreet and partners for a two-day blitz this coming week in Richmond as the Services team prepares for several citywides slated for February and March.
Convention Center Activity - The SGK Gun Show and the Coastal Virginia Wine Expo last weekend were both resounding successes with each show posting solid numbers. The Excalibur Cup opens today and runs through the weekend, welcoming thousands of gymnasts of all levels with more than 25 states and 10 countries represented. Also in house, the Tidewater Coin Club brings in the first Virginia Beach Coin Show of 2023 this Saturday and Sunday. The VBCC finishes the month strong with the Fire & Rescue Conference.
Live the Life Savings Pass - Sign up now, it’s free! Partners, promote your business to sports event attendees, meeting attendees, etc. Email rpencook@visitvirginiabeach.com for the link to enter your offer.
Shamrock Marathon Weekend March 18-19, 2023 - This Oceanfront St. Paddy’s Day tradition has a race distance for every goal: Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K, challenges, and youth events. No matter the distance, you’ll experience a scenic course before you cross the finish line overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Note that on March 18, the Shamrock 8k will close portions of Pacific Ave, Atlantic Ave, 25th Street, 27th Street, 37th Street, and the boardwalk. As well, please be aware that on March 19, the full and half marathon will result in partial road closures in the resort area of Virginia Beach. An official Road Closure notice will be distributed in March. For race/registration information, course maps, and more, please visit www.shamrockmarathon.com .
Our current Calendar of Events is available here. Take a look and see more of what’s on the horizon for the first half of 2023.
My team and I are committed to you and our industry and are here to help. Please let me know how we can assist. Sincerely,
Nancy Helman
CVB Director
Hotel Performance for the week of January 29 – February 4 - According to STR, Virginia Beach’s hotel occupancy rate for the week of January 29 – February 4 was down -4.5% at 39.7% occupancy, however, was up 8.7% for the running 28-day trend. ADR was up 6% at $100.85 for the week and up 10.6% for the running 28-day trend. RevPAR was up 1.3% at $40.02 and up 20.3% for the running 28-day trend. In comparison to January 2019, we have an increase in occupancy of 2.31% and we also saw an increase in ADR and RevPAR of 30.49% and 33.98% respectively.
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