RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Region Tourism Executive Vice President Katherine O’Donnell is touting good news as she works to attract visitors to the metro area.
“Visitors, when they come here, they're not just staying in hotels,” she explained. “They are going to shops and restaurants and museums and attractions and supporting all the things that make living in the Richmond region wonderful.”
Richmond Region hotels set another year-over-year record for annual occupancy tax revenue.
For the 2023 fiscal year that concluded on June 30, the region’s hotels generated a total of $35,000,965 in lodging taxes, which represents a 16.36% increase from last year, according to a press release.
Total hotel revenues for the year topped $437 million.
The Richmond Region is made up of seven localities including Richmond, Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield.
O’Donnell said one of the cornerstones of the region’s tourism success is the Greater Richmond Convention Center (GRCC), the largest meeting and exhibition facility in Virginia.
The GRCC hosted 218 events in the fiscal year 2023, a 21% increase compared to the previous year.
“Some of the events we've seen, for example, Galaxy Con, has been with us for three years [at GRCC]. This year, the attendance literally blew the doors off,” she recalled. “People were around the block lined up to get in.”
Sports tourism continues to make a significant economic impact on the region. For example, the sector represents a full two-thirds (68%) of Richmond Region Tourism’s bookings.
The news comes on the heels of the start of the area’s Tourism Improvement District (TID).
Hotels in Central Virginia began charging an additional 2% fee on nightly rates. The funds will go to Richmond Region Tourism and are expected to double the nonprofit’s budget to more than $8 million annually.
They use their funds to attract and entice events, sports, meetings, and conference to Metro Richmond while advertising the area’s offerings.
“We just started collecting the TID last month. But it will give us even more fodder to attract more events and more people here. That's really the whole point of the TID is to give us more resources so that we can announce even bigger growth in the years to come,” O’Donnell stated.
