Virginia Tourism Corporation awards $25K to help promote outdoor experiences in Page County

Air3 flies by the Luray Singing Tower.
Air3 flies by the Luray Singing Tower.(WHSV)
Published: Jun. 1, 2020 at 12:27 PM EDT
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The Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center has received a $25,000 grant to help fund their marketing effort encouraging people to enjoy outdoor recreation in the area.

On Monday, they announced that the Virginia Tourism Corporation had awarded the funding to them through the Marketing Leverage Program, which gave more than $929,000 to 59 tourism marketing projects across the commonwealth to help increase visitation and revenue for Virginia's communities in the months to come.

The grant awarded to the Chamber of Commerce is for their “Go Play Outside in Luray-Page County” marketing program, which is set for 2020-2021, in partnership with Luray Caverns, Delaware North at Shenandoah National Park and Shenandoah River Outfitters, Inc.

Each of those local businesses joined forces to supply $5,000 in matching funds for the project to draw visitors to the Page County area for its outdoor experiences.

The program focuses on promoting Page County as a hub for outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, backpacking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, camping, horseback riding, and bird and wildlife watching.

Gina Hilliard, President of the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, said she's grateful for the state’s continued support of the Visitor Center’s marketing efforts. Hilliard believes that the slight tweaks and changes in focus in the marketing plan make a huge difference in keeping the Luray-Page area as a destination people are thinking about.

“It allows us to showcase the variety of different activities and events available in the area and keeps our visitors coming back year after year as well as enticing new visitors to travel and vacation in the area," said Hilliard.

It's the ninth year in a row that the Virginia Tourism Corporation has helped fund marketing efforts in Page County.

The VTC Marketing Leverage Program is designed to increase visitor spending by leveraging limited marketing dollars, providing new tourism marketing through partnerships, and extending the “Virginia is for Lovers” brand. A minimum of three Virginia entities must partner financially to apply for a grant. Partners may consist of Virginia cities, towns, counties, convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, other local or regional destination marketing organizations, private businesses, museums, attractions, cultural events, and other tourism-related businesses. In total, VTC awards approximately $1.7 million annually - matched and leveraged on average 3:1 by partner dollars.

In 2018, tourism in Virginia generated $26 billion in revenue, supported the livelihood of over 235,000 Virginians and provided $1.8 billion in state and local taxes.