Richmond Region Tourism reports record visitation, cites hotel shortfall near convention center

Catherine O'Donnell, president and CEO of Richmond Region Tourism, told the Richmond City Council at an informal meeting that the region is breaking records for visitation and overnight trips and that visitor spending is a major economic driver for the city.

"We promote the Richmond Region to visitors, attracting meetings, conventions, tournaments, and leisure travelers who spend their money in our community," O'Donnell said during the presentation. She said the region took a cooperative, seven-locality approach to marketing and noted the convention center and sports events as major draws.

The update highlighted several metrics and programs the agency said are central to growth. O'Donnell said the city of Richmond recorded about $908,000,000 in visitor spending in 2023 and that visitor activity generated approximately $176,400,000 in local taxes and supported more than 8,000 jobs. She also said the region reached "over $39,000,000 in total tax revenue" last fiscal year. Richmond Region Tourism's internal data, she said, show sports tourism accounts for 71% of the business the organization recruits.

O'Donnell and Danielle Fitzhugh, vice president of Richmond Region Tourism, described investments in marketing, workforce development and a tourism improvement district (TID) as central to attracting visitors. "One of the things that we're charged with at Richmond Region Tourism is keeping the Richmond Region on the consideration set for travelers," O'Donnell said, describing paid media, travel-press visits and social campaigns that produced viral posts and story placements.

Fitzhugh described workforce and community investment programs, including scholarships and outreach: "Our workforce investment dollars . . . we put money right back into our students with scholarships at both VCU and Virginia State University," she said. Fitzhugh said the agency supports tourism classes, sports tourism grants and community-facing training that helps local attraction staff better refer visitors to other regional sites.

Councilmember Bridal pressed the agency on hotel capacity near the convention center, saying the city has lost convention business because bidders prefer locations with larger blocks of hotel rooms within walking distance. "We are losing opportunities for convention center events because we lack sufficient hotel capacity in the vicinity of the convention center. Is that correct?" Bridal asked. O'Donnell answered affirmatively and explained a slide comparing Richmond to peer cities showing those cities with 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-room counts within a half-mile of their convention centers.

O'Donnell said the tourism master plan includes priorities such as recruiting a headquarters hotel adjacent to the convention center, a regional inspiration campaign funded initially with American Rescue Plan money, sustainable funding through the TID and workforce development. She said the region has lost more than $250,000,000 in economic impact from conventions that chose other cities because Richmond lacked sufficient nearby hotel rooms.

The presentation cited recent and upcoming events as examples of demand: GalaxyCon drew "upwards of 40,000 people," the agency hosted USA Boxing in December and expects USA Taekwondo and other tournaments in coming months. O'Donnell also said the TID, now in its second year, provides a hotel-room-fee revenue stream governed by the Committee of Hotels and executed by Richmond Region Tourism to support year-round marketing and event recruitment.

Council discussion at the end focused on the hotel shortfall and the agency's ability to use TID funds to incentivize event recruitment. O'Donnell offered to provide councilmembers with the inspiration campaign video and follow-up materials.

The council did not vote on policy changes or funding at the meeting; multiple consent-agenda items and budget papers were continued to future meetings by council consensus.