Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge reports record hospitality numbers and urges more hotel capacity
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Summary
Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge told the Roanoke County Board that 2024 was a record year for tourism, citing nearly $11 million in bed tax, $132 million in direct visitor spending in the county and campaign-level returns of about 17:1 from a spring marketing push. Presenters urged more local hotel capacity and continued investment in marketing and events.
Landon Howard, president of Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge, presented the region's 2024 tourism results to the Roanoke County Board on Jan. 13, saying the region collected nearly $11 million in bed tax for the reported fiscal year and that Roanoke County accounted for $132 million in direct visitor spending.
Howard and VBR staff detailed marketing campaigns that they said drove measurable visitor traffic. They told the board a spring campaign (April–July) cost about $650,000 and produced tracked results that the presenters characterized as a 17:1 return on investment, including an estimated 27,000 visitors attributable to the campaign and roughly $2.5 million in direct spending in Roanoke County tied to that effort.
Board members pressed for more hotel capacity to capture demand and suggested VBR's economic-impact figures could bolster state-level funding requests such as support for airport improvements and runway planning. VBR said the organization is aligning destination branding with regional economic-development partners and intends to provide more detailed campaign metrics in follow-up reports.
The presentation also highlighted group and sports business (tens of thousands of room nights and attendees) and a plan to reinvest small event fees into trail maintenance and outdoor recreation infrastructure.
