A grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Grant Fund program has been given to the Lexington & the Rockbridge Area Tourism. A $8,250 grant  will support outreach and marketing for the second annual Lexington Rockbridge Studio Tour in April 2013.

Here is the press release from The Historic Rockbridge Area.

Lexington, Va. (December 11, 2012) – Lexington & the Rockbridge Area Tourism has secured $8,250 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) Marketing Leverage Grant Fund program to support outreach efforts for the second annual Lexington Rockbridge Studio Tour to be held April 20-21, 2013. Governor Bob McDonnell announced the recipients of the grant in a news release on Nov. 26, 2012. Abigail Inn Bed & Breakfast, the third partner on the grant application, has also contributed funds and will host an evening reception for studio tour visitors. Read more »

Virginia Mountain Vineyards and the Bedford-Botetourt Wine Festival received $4,500 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Grant Fund program. Botetourt and Bedford Tourism offices will partner with seven Bedford and Botetourt wineries to give $4,500 in matching funds that will be used to market and advertise the wine festival. VTC funds are part of a state effort to increase economic development through tourism.

Here is the press release from Botetourt County Office of Tourism.

Botetourt-Bedford Wine Festival in May of 2013- Governor Bob McDonnell has announced that Virginia Mountain Vineyards and the Bedford-Botetourt Wine Festival have received $4,500 from the Virginia Tourism Corporation Marketing Leverage Grant Fund program. In total, the VTC has awarded more than $543,000 for 37 tourism marketing projects across the state to help increase visitation and revenue for Virginia’s localities through tourism. Read more »

A free Adventure Tourism Workshop is being held Sept. 20 for those interested in starting a business in the outdoor recreation industry. The Roanoke Regional Partnership and other organizations are hosting the event at Camp Roanoke in Salem. The workshop will cover opportunities, practices and steps to launch a tourism business. Space is limited. To register, visit http://www.vastartup.org/register/events/701.

Here is the press release from the becher agency.

ROANOKE, Va. (August 1, 2012) — The Roanoke Regional Partnership and other local
organizations are hosting an Adventure Tourism Workshop for anyone interested in starting a business in the growing outdoor recreation industry.

The workshop, to be held from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sept. 20 at Camp Roanoke, 6498 Dry Hollow Road in Salem, will outline the opportunities, best practices and steps required to launch a successful adventure tourism business. Read more »

Tourism and film production in the region were celebrated at the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau’s annual meeting. In 2010, visitors spent $19 billion in Virginia while film production brought $344 million to the state revenue. The Roanoke region saw a 6 percent increase in tourism expenses and 7,000 tourism related jobs generated. This meeting also celebrated the recent launch of the new “Virginia’s Blue Ridge” destination brand.

Here is the press release from Virginia’s Blue Ridge.

Roanoke, VA – Industry leaders and local and state officials celebrated the economic impact of tourism and film production in the region at the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (CVB) Annual Meeting yesterday at The Hotel Roanoke.

“We were delighted to have an extraordinary lineup of great speakers to highlight National Tourism Week, to celebrate the recent launch of the new “Virginia’s Blue Ridge” destination brand, and to showcase the unique partnership between tourism and Virginia’s film industry,” said Landon Howard, Executive Director of the Roanoke Valley CVB. Read more »

The New River Valley has a new tourism organization. Formed in December, the NRV Hospitality Association is designed to unite hospitality leaders and develop tourism in the NRV. For more information, contact Ken Rogers at 552-7001 or email krogers@thevthotel.com

Here is the press release from New River Valley Hospitality Association.

BLACKSBURG (03/09/2012) – Tourism leaders of the New River Valley announced today the formation of the NRV Hospitality Association.

In December 2011, members selected a leadership team who consists of area general managers – Tom Norman, Courtyard by Marriott , Ken Rogers, Holiday Inn University Blacksburg, and Rei Black, Main Street Inn.  The group discussed building membership, awareness, and future educational topics.   Read more »

Several lodgings and restaurants across Virginia earned the Four Diamond Award or Five Diamond Award from AAA. Among these award winners are The Homestead in Hot Springs, The Oaks Victorian Hotel in Christiansburg and
The Martha Washington Inn and Spa in Abingdon.

Here is the press release from AAA Mid-Atlantic. Read more »

The Holiday Inn Express, Troutville has received the IHG 2011 Torchbearer Award, presented at an IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference in Las Vegas.

The hotel was one of 116 chosen out of 4,400 hotels in the IHG system.

Here’s a news release from Holiday Inn Express, Troutville:

The Holiday Inn Express, Troutville received the IHG 2011 Torchbearer Award, the company’s most prestigious award.
 
Read more »

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling announced grant funding from the Virginia Tourism Corporation for five initiatives in Southwest Virginia. The grants are designed to stimulate new tourism marketing through partnerships and to extend the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand.

Grant recipients include The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, Friends of Southwest Virginia and the Round the Mountain Artisan Network.

Here’s the full news release from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor:

  Read more »

Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business has been ranked eighth out of the top 100 universities for hospitality and tourism research by a student published in the August issue of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. Four faculty members in the college were also named in the study among the most prolific authors in their field. Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech:

Faculty in the hospitality and tourism management department of the Pamplin College of Business are among the world’s top scholars in the discipline, according to a study in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research.

The study identified the 50 most prolific authors and institutions worldwide in hospitality and tourism as two separate fields as well as the top 100 authors and universities in the combined field.

Read more »

Roanoke placed third in a Virginia Tourism Corporation contest between Virginia localities to display large letters spelling “LOVE” in their town. Roanoke received 3,590 votes, or 15.19 percent, of nearly 24,000 votes in the contest. The winning location for the letters is Abingdon.