 |
|
|
Trends & Statistics |
|
|
Hotel occupancy down 6.7% in December |
|
|
Hotel revenue per room up 6% in December |
|
|
Website visitors up 9% YTD |
|
|
Visitors Center traffic down 88% YTD |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PRINTING TIP: |
|
To print the Compass, set your page margins to .25 inches. |
|
|
 |
|
Visit Loudoun:
The 2007-2008 Official Visitors
Guide to Loudoun County, Virginia |
|
|
|
Visitors Guide Arrives! |
|
|
January 2007 |
|
|
To coincide with the new calendar year we have the new Visit Loudoun: The 2007-2008 Official Visitors Guide to Loudoun County, Virginia ready for distribution. Visit Loudoun includes a 21 page special Wedding Guide section. Thank you to all of the advertisers who helped make the new publication possible! Visit Loudoun will be distributed through the hotels for the first time and we are really excited about this opportunity. Contact us if you need a quantity of this new guide for your guests and customers. Meanwhile, we'll be reprinting the Loudoun County Shopping & Dining Guide and Fairs & Festivals Guide. Look for more details about these publications and eligibility for inclusion in future LCVA mailings and the Tourism Industry Compass.
We hope you are reading the Tourism Industry Compass each month and staying current with announcements, opportunities, and deadlines. Let us know if you have any suggestions for this important industry communication tool.
|
|
|
|
- The LCVA is serving as the community liaison for the America's Cup of Polo event scheduled for May 12, 2007. This event offers great potential to promote tourism and economic development in Loudoun County, and there are a variety of opportunities for the tourism industry to become involved. Keep up with announcements in the Tourism Industry Compass for participation opportunities. Currently, the event is looking for wineries interested in providing wine-tasting activities at the event. Contact Chris Geno at 703-771-2170 ext. 17 to learn more about how local wines will be featured during the event. Chris is also serving as the local media contact. Soon, the LCVA will be selling tickets for the America's Cup of Polo event through the Visitors Center. For more information about the event, visit the America's Cup of Polo page on our visitor information site or contact Chris Geno or Cheryl Kilday at the LCVA.
- The LCVA conducted a site visit to Idyll Time Bed & Breakfast in Lucketts at the invitation of owner, Regina Blake.
|
|
|
Industry News |
- The Springhill Suites Dulles Airport opened its doors on January 8, 2007. The brand new SpringHill Suites has 158 suites that feature separate living and sleeping areas, a microwave and refrigerator in all suites, a banquet room that seats up to 90 people, and an executive board room that seats 12. The hotel will be holding its grand opening on February 22. For more information, contact Michelle Phillips at 703-444-3944.
- Jo Ann Sweeney, a team member of the Holiday Inn Washington Dulles for over 33 years, has won the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association's Manager of the Year Award for 2006. According to Anna Lyons, General Manager, Jo Ann takes exceptional care of the hotel's guests, fellow team members, and owners!
- Alex Mai, General Manager of the Hampton Inn & Suites Leesburg and an LCVA Board Member, has left the hotel to take a new position as a regional manager with Hilton in Tennessee. We thank Alex for his contributions to the LCVA Board and the Loudoun tourism industry, and wish him well.
If you have any news about your organization you would like to share with the tourism industry in Loudoun County, please contact Chris Geno, Geno@VisitLoudoun.org. |
|
|
Program Updates |
- Tomorrow, January 31, is the deadline to submit your events for the 2007 edition of the LCVA's Fairs & Festivals Guide. For an event submission form or to check event eligibility requirements, click here to access the Publications page on the LCVA's corporate website. To have a form faxed to you, contact Brian Jenkins at 703-771-2170 ext. 21.
- Sponsorships are now being sold for the LCVA's 11th Annual Meeting and 2006 Tourism Awards Luncheon on March 30, 2007 at Lansdowne Resort. Various levels of sponsorship are available. To be included in the invitation for the event, sponsorship forms and full payment are due by February 9, 2007. To be included in the event program, sponsorship must be received by March 9, 2007. For further information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Chris Geno at 703-771-2170 ext. 17 or Grafton deButts at 703-771-2170, ext. 12 or visit the Annual Meeting page on the LCVA's corporate website. Individual tickets to the Annual Meeting will go on sale later this month.
- Visit Loudoun: The 2007-2008 Official Visitors Guide to Loudoun County, Virginia is hot off the printing press. This beautiful new guide features 76 pages of information on Loudoun County as a tourist destination. Incorporated into the guide for the first time is a 21-page Wedding Guide. To order bulk supplies of Visit Loudoun, please contact Grafton deButts at 703-771-2170 ext. 12.
- The LCVA has updated its popular Flat Map of Loudoun County, which features important information for visitors to the county. The maps are available in 100-sheet tear-off pads. If you would like copies for visitors to your business, please call or email Grafton deButts at 703-771-2170 ext. 12.
- The LCVA is holding a Photo Contest on its consumer website, VisitLoudoun.org. Share your favorite photos of Loudoun County and have a chance to win a weekend at the new SpringHill Suites Hotel in Dulles. The photos can be of anything in Loudoun, including but not limited to, your favorite event, scenery, restaurant, winery, shop, attraction, town, wedding, or people. Whatever you think expresses what Loudoun means to you. If there is a story behind the photo, please also include it. The deadline for entries is midnight, Thursday, March 1, 2007. Send your entries to photos@VisitLoudoun.org. For more information, or to see the official rules for the contest, please go to VisitLoudoun.org/photocontest.
- The LCVA has added a third round of applications for funding marketing projects under the LCVA Cooperative Marketing Fund. As you'll recall, this is a matching funds program with maximum payout up to a $1 for $1 match. Non-profit organizations may include professional in-kind services as part of the match and must provide proposals detailing the in-kind value to verify the match. The deadline to submit applications is March 2, 2007. For eligibility, criteria, process, and an application, please click here to be taken to the Marketing Department section of our Corporate Website and scroll down to the "Tourism Cooperative Marketing Fund Program" file under "Important Documents."
|
|
|
Sales Activity Report |
- The LCVA hosted a travel and lifestyle writer from Washingtonian Magazine in late January. An article should appear in the April edition of the magazine.
- The LCVA exhibited at the Bridal Showcase at the Patriot Center on January 28, 2007.
|
|
