A great place to live is typically a great place to visit. The Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau (RVCVB) is leading the way to develop a vision plan for added and enhanced tourism products and services that are attractive, not only to residents, but to visitors too.
Working from a viewpoint that Virginia’s Blue Ridge region deserves a future by design, not by chance, the RVCVB has spent the past year gathering intelligence from a wide-range of sources. The Bureau has also worked collaboratively with community leaders to identify “what’s next” for the region.
Taking cues from regional leaders prompted the Bureau toward destination visioning. “We would like to sincerely thank Salem City Councilwoman Lisa Garst who served as Chair of the Regional Planning Commission’s “Livable Roanoke Valley Plan,” said RVCVB Chairman Lee Wilhelm – along with many others, the study identified economic opportunity and quality of life needs in the region.”
RVCVB also applauded Roianoke Mayor David Bowers for his vision and leadership for the ACT program, which elevated the awareness of Academics, Culture, and Tourism as future major economic drivers for Roanoke.
In order to guide the development of the Destination Vision Plan 2030 for Virginia’s Blue Ridge (VBR) region, the RVCVB partnered with Zeitgeist Consulting, a nationally-known destination planning firm. Together, they hosted a team of destination experts in order to study their experience in VBR as first-time visitors with the goal to fully understand strengths, challenges, synergistic connectivity and opportunities that present themselves to tourists and residents.
Those studies, plus developments already identified by the region as opportunities for growth, were compiled together to produce an assessment with recommendations serving as a reference for future regional planning.
More than 30 listening and visioning sessions have been held since last fall to present these recommendations and identify areas that had yet to be considered. Over 250 individuals participated in these sessions culminating in the identification of six major areas: Arts, Culture & Heritage; Economic Development; Meetings & Conventions; Outdoor Recreation; Education and Sports.
Bill Geist of Zeitgeist Consulting stated, “This is the most in depth destination visioning process we have ever facilitated. Getting the communities support is vital to the future success of the region as well as taking the action steps necessary to convert the plan.”
But the visioning process is not complete without the community’s input and the Bureau is requesting feedback at www.VBRDestinationVision.com.
“As we examine the strengths of our region as well as explore ideas to make it a better place to live and visit, we turn to the people who know and love this area the most – those who live and work here.” said Lee Wilhelm, RVCVB Chairman.
