Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau outlines three‑year plan, pursues rebrand and midweek hotel growth
Courtney, a presenter for the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, told City Council on Aug. 18, 2025, that the bureau is beginning a three‑year strategic plan focused on a rebrand, midweek visitation and accessibility initiatives and that it depends on transient occupancy tax revenue to fund operations.
The plan matters because the bureau’s budget is funded by the transient occupancy tax; as Courtney said, “The transient occupancy tax is the sole funding source for our organization.” The bureau told council it will prioritize actions intended to increase paid overnight stays, broaden access for visitors with disabilities and improve data‑driven tracking of local lodging and short‑term rental trends.
Courtney said the rebranding process runs May through November with a rollout scheduled this winter, after seven community workshops and an online survey that drew 439 responses. The bureau plans to refresh its website, develop a new brand and expand visitor‑service offerings over the next three years. “It is May through November, so it’ll be complete the November,” Courtney said when asked about the timeline.
The presentation highlighted several specific initiatives and recent results: CACVB expects updated 2024 tourism spending figures from the state in September and reported 2023 figures showing nearly $1 billion in direct visitor spending in Charlottesville and Albemarle combined, supporting more than 7,000 jobs and roughly $350 million in payroll. Courtney said the bureau spends about half its annual budget on advertising and promotion and focuses promotion on midweek business because weekend leisure visitation is already strong.
Accessibility and partnerships were a second emphasis. The bureau said it has worked on “tourism for all” cohorts with industry partners and previously onboarded 61 partners to Wheel the World accessibility listings; this cycle it added seven partners and said it received a roughly $10,000 award from the Virginia Tourism Corporation to develop and market more accessible visitor experiences. The bureau also plans an ambassador program to improve partner engagement and an accreditation effort with Destinations International’s DMAP program.
Data improvements were described as a priority. Courtney said the bureau is building a dashboard with daily accommodation metrics — occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available room — using daily data from Virginia Tourism Corporation and short‑term rental tracking via AirDNA. She reported that AirDNA shows short‑term rental inventory represented about 14% of the market in 2024 and that many short‑term units appear seasonally for high‑demand events.
Council members asked about measurement and return on investment for marketing spending. Courtney said the bureau tracks many metrics but that deeper advertising‑effectiveness studies are expensive; the bureau previously paid about $20,000 for partial tracking and has weighed that cost against program spending. On the question whether short‑term-rental guests are the same market as hotel guests, Courtney said observationally “they’re seeking out a different experience” and that formal research would be needed to confirm differences.
Other items noted in the presentation: the bureau increased visibility on the meeting‑planner platform Cvent and reported a rise in midweek business; it supports the Virginia 250/America 250 activities (including a mobile museum and related programming) and provided $10,000 toward VA250 efforts that were matched by the Virginia Tourism Corporation; and the bureau is coordinating with University of Virginia and local partners about visitor impacts tied to new facilities such as the Virginia Guest House.
No formal council action or vote was taken on the bureau report; Council members asked questions and the presentation closed. The bureau invited councilors and the public to an upcoming CACVB board meeting and to ongoing public workshops tied to the rebrand.
Courtney (presenter, Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau) said the bureau will share the 2024 performance numbers when state data are published and will continue community engagement on branding and accessibility work.