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April 25, 2025
Dear Valued Tourism Partners,
The countdown is on! This is the final week of open registration for your complimentary seat to our tourism luncheon and awards ceremony set for Friday, May 9th. Now in our 35th year of hosting this event, we are excited for yet another wonderful celebration of our industry. Registration is open through Wednesday, April 30th at the link provided here. I hope to see many of you there cheering on your team members, colleagues and partners.
We are pleased to share these recent press hits:
Don’t forget to vote in the 2025 Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards! You may vote HERE now through June 30th for all of the following options:
- Beaches: Virginia Beach
- Cities: Virginia Beach
- Hotels: Delta Marriott VB Waterfront and Founders Inn & Spa
- Resorts: Founders Inn & Spa and The Cavalier
The results of the Readers’ Choice Awards will be featured in the November US and UK print issues and online.
This week the Convention Center staff welcomed the annual Official for a Day Luncheon hosted by the Virginia Beach School Board. This event brings together city officials, community stakeholders, and students who have shown an interest in governance. Starting today, the facility begins the load-in for Oceantic Network’s International Partnering Forum (IPF). IPF is the largest offshore renewable energy conference in the Americas where industry experts from around the world come together for updates on the industry, technology developments, safety practices, and unparalleled networking. Attendees will be arriving through the weekend for conference activities beginning on Monday.
The M&C Sales & Services Team continues to actively engage clients while promoting and selling Virginia Beach with enthusiasm and pride. This week Dee Mittman is in Kansas City with Dining with Destinations, where over 100 planners from the Midwest will be breaking bread with other destination marketing organizations such as ours while learning about new opportunities for their meetings and events. On Wednesday, Sally Noona facilitated a webinar on behalf of NorthStar Meetings Group and shared best practices for site visits. Eric Logan held several pre-conference meetings with our hotel community in anticipation of two national conventions coming to town this spring.
This weekend, the Virginia Beach Sports Tourism team welcomes thousands of athletes and spectators for three premier youth tournaments across volleyball, softball, and field hockey.
At the Virginia Beach Sports Center, the Atlantic Coast Grand Prix returns as one of the region’s largest volleyball events. Over 1,800 athletes from across the East Coast and beyond will compete in this AAU-sanctioned tournament, with matches spanning both sides of the facility. Girls and Boys teams in age divisions 13U through 18U will battle it out on the courts, making for a high-energy weekend of elite-level play.
Meanwhile, softball action heats up at the Princess Anne Athletic Complex and City View Park with the Battle at the Beach tournament. Approximately 600 fast-pitch athletes in the 10U, 12U, and 14U divisions will take the field in this USA Softball of Virginia event. Expect high competition as teams from across the region showcase their skills in a dynamic, family-friendly atmosphere.
Over at the USA Regional Field Hockey Training Center, the U19 Regional Club Championship brings together 250 top-tier athletes from around the country. This tournament serves as a qualifier for the National Club Championship, with clubs vying for a coveted spot on the national stage. The level of play promises to be intense, as teams compete for advancement and bragging rights.
With more than 2,600 athletes coming to Virginia Beach, this weekend is a testament to the city’s growing reputation as a premier destination for youth sports.
Vibe Check Begins Tonight! - We’re excited about our newest music festival, Vibe Check, which begins this evening and runs through tomorrow night (April 25th - 26th). This new, free hip hop and R&B music festival will present Waka Flocka Flame and Bryce Vine as headliners. Featuring over a dozen acts over two days, the festival will take place at 24th Street on the beach. Find more details here. Cheers to some great weather and live music on the beach!
2025 Oceanfront Concert Series Lineup Announced - In more entertainment news, this week it was announced that the free 2025 Oceanfront Concert Series is returning to the Oceanfront beginning Wednesday, May 21st. As part of the Virginia Beach Events program, this series brings national recording artists to perform free concerts in Virginia Beach Oceanfront Park stages throughout the summer. All shows start at 7 pm. For a full list of dates and artists, click here.
Family Fun at Town Center - Find all the details about all the fun at Town Center of Virginia Beach in this edition of Town Talk found at the link provided here.
City Maintenance on 42nd Street - The City is performing maintenance on the pump station located next to the Marriott on 42nd Street and will require a crane on-site so contractors can remove the panels off of the wet walls for two weeks. The crane will only be on-site for the first and last day to remove and reinstall the panels, and a fence will be placed around the wet wall deck. This work is currently scheduled for the week of May 12th, 2025.
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and Virginia Humanities Join Forces to Present Community Day - The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) and Virginia Humanities present Community Day on Saturday, May 10th, 2025, from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. at Virginia MOCA. Community Day is a Virginia Humanities 50th birthday celebration, built around the maritime and environmental themes found in the Virginia MOCA exhibition Duke Riley: O’er the Wide and Plastic Sea. This museum-wide activation spotlights creativity, environmental stewardship, and all things nautical as we celebrate our oceans and maritime heritage of Hampton Roads. Guests will enjoy a day filled with performances, activities, artist demos, community resources, food, and more. Visitors can experience live artist demonstrations in tattooing, basket-making, wood-burning, and clay. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
Ordinary Awards to Celebrate Best in the State - The Ordinary Awards celebrate and honor all of Virginia’s restaurants, lodging establishments and hotels, DMOs, attractions, and more, yet simply ordinary is not what these nominees are. In fact, they are extraordinary in that they shine a light on the incredible restaurateurs, hoteliers, attractions, establishments, and employees that represent some of the best our industry has to offer from across the state.
Nominations are open through June 30th, 2025, and winners announced at the VRLTA awards dinner and ceremony on September 8th, 2025. Find out more about the awards dinner and the process for nominating someone at the link provided here.
Partner Professional Development Opportunities - To support our strategic pillar of accountability to our stakeholders and the industry as a whole, we are pleased to share information about upcoming opportunities for professional development:
Virginia Restaurant Lodging and Travel Association (VRLTA) Hospitality Training Expands - VRLTA’s 2025 Regional Seminars aim to provide education and resources on critical industry topics, extending VRLTA’s outreach and enhancing their statewide presence through valuable, focused programming.
There is still time to register to attend this important training!
On May 19th, 2025, from 1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m., the hospitality community is encouraged to attend Human Trafficking Training & Prevention, a free VRLTA Coastal Regional Seminar being held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Virginia Beach. Human trafficking is a widespread issue that often operates in plain sight and the hospitality and tourism industries are uniquely positioned to help identify and report potential cases, making training and awareness critical. Open to members and non-members, find out more about this free educational opportunity and register at the link provided here.
Other VRLTA Training Offerings - The VRLTA regularly also offers a variety of training and certification opportunities in the hospitality industry. These include online courses, career and technical education programs, and certification programs. Visit https://www.vrlta.org/hospitality-training/ for more information.
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- May 15 – Harnessing the Power of AI - AI is rapidly reshaping the travel and tourism industry, and staying up to date is essential. Join Miles Partnership, PhocusWire and Phocuswright for "Harnessing the Power of AI," and explore some of the latest and most compelling AI applications and their impact on the industry.
- June 24 – Technology Trends, Powered by the American Traveler
- September 16 – Traveler Segments, Powered by the State of the American Traveler
- November 18 – Stewardship & Sustainability Insights, Powered by the State of the American Traveler
I hope some of you, or your designees, are able to attend one or more of these important and insightful professional development opportunities.
EVENTS & HAPPENINGS
Find the 2025 CVB Event Calendar here, the Virginia Beach Events entertainment schedule here, and a link to the many fun events at Town Center of Virginia Beach here.
My team and I are committed to you and our industry and are here to help in any way we can.
Sincerely,
Nancy Helman
CVB Director
nhelman@visitvirginiabeach.com
CVB Strategic Pillars:
Engagement|Growth|Brand Development|Culture|Accountability
Hotel Occupancy for March 2025 - Virginia Beach’s hotel occupancy rate for the month of March was down -0.6% from March of 2024, at 57.5% occupancy, and down -2.7% year to date. ADR was up 2.8% from March of 2024 at $130.63, and up 1.9% year to date. RevPAR was up 2.2% from March of 2024, at $75.16, but down -0.9% year to date.
Source: STR, LLC. Republication or other reuse of this data without the express written permission of STR, LLC is strictly prohibited.
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