Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau Highlights Tourism Success

​The Virginia Beach Convention & Visitor Bureau (VBCVB) is pleased to share highlights, accomplishments and forward-looking growth as the organization enters the fourth quarter of the 2021/22 fiscal year.

Honors and Awards:

Virginia Beach has been recognized for its Boardwalk, culinary & arts scene and as an overall top beach destination for travelers. Its innovative tourism marketing campaign and designation as the nation's safest large city also were recognized with awards this fiscal year:

• Reader's Digest chose Virginia Beach as one of its Top 20 Beach Boardwalks in America
• Virginia Beach was recognized as a US City with a "Big Time Art Scene" by Conde Nast Traveler
• USA Today selected Virginia Beach as one of its Top 10 Best Beach Vacations for Fall
• Virginia Beach was dubbed a Top 10 Thanksgiving 2021 Destination by WalletHub
• Society 19 named Virginia Beach in a roster of the Top 10 Best Beaches to Visit While Traveling
• VBCVB was awarded a Silver Magellan Award for its Persona-based Tourism Marketing Campaign
• Lonely Planet recognized Virginia Beach as one of the Top 10 Accessible Beaches in the US to visit for Disability Awareness Month
• AdvisorSmith proclaimed Virginia Beach the Safest Large City in America

Winning with Sports:

In late 2020, the Virginia Beach Sports Center opened to rave reviews and has been operating at capacity ever since. The East Coast's newest and largest indoor sports complex hosts year-round youth and adult sports plus elite tournaments and sporting events in a state-of-the-art facility just blocks from the oceanfront. Its most prestigious event selection is as the host site for the NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships. The four-year award will bring Division I, II and III athletic programs to the venue beginning in 2023. Another exciting new addition recently announced is the 2023 Jackalope Festival featuring skateboarding, bouldering BASE Jumping and break dancing.

Virginia Beach Events Mark Anniversaries in 2022:

A trio of quintessential Virginia Beach athletic events are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year:

• The Shamrock Marathon & Sports Festival celebrated its 50^th running this past weekend with nearly 25,000 combined participants going for the gold in five different race lengths.
• North American Sand Soccer Championship will welcome more than 1,000 teams from around the world to the 29^th annual event in June with oceanfront fields that span 25 full city blocks along the shoreline.
• The world's longest-running surf competition, the East Coast Surfing Championships, celebrates its diamond anniversary this August when hundreds of surfers hit the waves that break along the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

Tourism Events:

In 2021, the VBCVB hosted the inaugural Virginia Beach Summit featuring keynote speaker Roger Dow, president & CEO of the US Travel Association. This public event helped illustrate the impact of tourism and ongoing efforts to promote the resort city's offerings to travel audiences both domestic and international. Additionally, the city recently hosted the Southeast Tourism Society's Domestic Showcase which welcomed 600+ travel professionals and media eager to explore, sell and promote the city's rich, year-round amenities to a variety of travel audiences.

"As we enter the final quarter of this year, the VBCVB team is grateful for all the support of our local tourism partners, stakeholders and city leadership that continue to help us showcase our vibrant city to the world," says Nancy Helman, Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau director.