Contributed by Discover Prince William & Manassas
Northern Virginia tourism agencies are uniting to implement their first collective Canadian marketing campaign.
With the help of a grant from Virginia Tourism Corporation, the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium recently launched the Northern Virginia Canadian Marketing Campaign, which promotes the region as a vibrant, multi-faceted destination to the Canadian market.
The NVVC is comprised of Discover Prince William & Manassas, Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association, Arlington Convention & Visitors Service, Visit Fairfax and Visit Loudoun. Formed more than 10 years ago, the group meets to discuss collaborative marketing opportunities and ways to promote tourism to Northern Virginia.
“Virginia receives more international travelers from Canada than any other country and this funding will assist Northern Virginia in creating a stronger brand identity to better attract visitors from Canada,” NVVC President Ann Marie Maher said. “Tourists don’t know jurisdiction boundaries, so by working collaboratively we can pull resources and offer a stronger product to visitors.”
“VTC has been invested in the Canadian market for more than 16 years and remains committed to increasing Canadian visitation and spending in the Commonwealth. I am excited about this partnership with Northern Virginia, which can only increase the strong momentum we are experiencing from Canada,” VTC President and CEO Rita McClenny said.
In 2012, Canadian overnight visitation to Virginia was more than 651,500, an increase of 3 percent from 2011. Spending by Canadian visitors was over $154 million in 2012, up 4 percent.
The three-year Northern Virginia Canadian Marketing Campaign will build on the successes VTC has already had with the Canadian market. The campaign will be led by BCF- an agency focused on marketing the travel agency- and will include photos, videos and multi-media ads that promote Northern Virginia’s history, wine country, shops and outdoor recreation opportunities.
Each NVVC member contributed $10,000 to the campaign in order to leverage a $25,000 grant and VTC’s investment in the Canadian market. In August, VTC awarded more than $98,000 in grants for 54 tourism marketing projects across the state.
For more information, please contact Jennifer Buske at jbuske@discoverpwm.com; 571-257-3218.
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