Destinations

Virginia Is For Lovers

“Virginia is for lovers of life,” is the first thing that Jane Lammay, who handles international marketing for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, is telling travel agents these days.

And that’s because the state has cranked up its message to hone in on the innumerable reasons that Canadians are visiting the state.

Lammay, who was in Toronto this week with representatives from Virginia Beach, Abingdon, Alexandria, Loudon and Charlottesville, told PressToday that the state is “now marketing its different drivers” which include music, food, history, outdoor activities, mountain tourism, LGBT, wine, craft beer, film and, of course, the beach.

Quite a list.

For the Canadian market, which Virginia has been carefully cultivating for the past 20 years, the new pitch is bound to receive a positive response.

In fact, based on the buzz at Virginia’s Toronto event, it was already making a positive impression.

Lammay also told PT that Canada continues to be the state’s largest and most important international market, with Virginia welcoming close to 550,000 Canadians each year – about 60% of that traffic is drive, the remaining 40% arrives by air.

As she sees it, the new marketing initiative has a simple message as its bottom line and that’s that Virginia provides its visitors with “authentic experiences that you can’t get anywhere else.”

So yes, it’s true, Virginia is for lovers of life.

Seen in the photo are (l-r) Jacinthe Pare from Virginia Beach; Amanda Livingston from Abingdon, Virginia; Sana Keller, Canadian representative for Virginia; Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Jane Lammay; Alexandria, Virginia’s Jennifer De Luca; Loudoun, Virginia’s Jennifer Ritter; and Charlottesville, Virginia’s Brigitte Belanger-Warner.