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Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge reports record tourism impact; council presses for clearer ROI and board governance
Summary
At its Oct. 6 meeting, Roanoke City Council heard a presentation from Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge showing record lodging and visitor spending for the region and the city. Council members praised the economic results but pressed the organization for clearer, city-specific return-on-investment data and changes to board governance and term limits.
Roanoke City Council on Oct. 6 received an annual briefing from Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge showing record regional visitation and lodging revenue and saying the city accounted for roughly 58% of direct visitor spending in the region.
The presentation, led by Landon Howard, president of Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge, said the region produced its “largest impact on tourism than at any point in our history,” with direct visitor spending in the region reported at roughly $923 million and $534 million of that spending occurring in the City of Roanoke. Howard said those figures translate to about $25.5 million in local tax revenue for the city and estimated the effect lowered the tax bill for an average Roanoke household by about $597.
Council members said the headline numbers are significant but repeatedly asked the tourism agency to show how the city’s investment translates to measurable returns for Roanoke taxpayers. Council member M. Lisonbee pressed the agency on city-specific value, saying, “We're putting in this money. What are we getting out from it?”
Why it matters: Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge receives hotel tax-derived funding from Roanoke and neighboring jurisdictions to market the region. Council members said the city needs clearer, attributable data showing how much of the agency's spending directly benefits Roanoke businesses, hotels and tax revenues.
What Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge said: Howard described a recent digital marketing campaign (April–July) that the agency conservatively attributed to about 19,156 observed website visits from target markets and estimated roughly $13 million in direct spending traced to that campaign alone. Marketing lead Deborah Wright said the spring campaign produced a strong measured return and that Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge is now building a “baseline” data set that will allow more regular KPI reporting.
Council concerns and follow-ups: Multiple council members asked for more granular metrics. Councilor Boleson said tourism is a top local industry and asked the agency to break down the executive board composition and decision-making. Councilor Lisonbee and others pressed the agency to quantify how much of the city's roughly $2 million annual contribution is spent on marketing assets that directly promote Roanoke rather than the broader region. Howard said Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge would provide more detailed KPI reporting and requested a January work session with council to discuss destination strategy and metrics.
On governance, some council members raised questions about board size and term limits. Howard said the organization is reviewing its bylaws and anticipated changes to board structure and term limits to be finalized in coming months.
Quotes: “The city of Roanoke actually had direct spending of visitors of $534,000,000. And that's 58% of the total for the entire region,” Landon Howard said.
“I'm here to represent the Roanoke City taxpayer. We're putting in this money. What are we getting out from it?” Councilor M. Lisonbee said.
Next steps: Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge said it would provide the council with more detailed monthly KPIs and hold a joint work session in January to discuss destination alignment, board governance, and metrics the city can use to evaluate the agency's performance.
Ending: Council members welcomed the briefing but directed staff and the agency to return with clearer city-level performance indicators and documentation of board governance changes.
