Grow with Us!
Tourism is one of the largest revenue generators for the City of Virginia Beach. Tourism spurs growth, builds a strong tax base and creates jobs that cannot be outsourced. Increased traveler visits and greater traveler spending in local businesses result in faster job creation and higher tax revenues that far surpass the initial investment. In this way, the Virginia Beach tourism industry provides a significant return on investment for our residents.
We must all work together to protect our tourism industry. To grow and strengthen our tourism industry, we need the support of our business community, our residents, our tourism partner associations, and local and state political leaders. Virginia Beach's competitors are investing heavily in product development to ensure their cities are staying attractive and luring leisure and business visitors to their shores. Many have introduced new attractions and new hotels, and our competitors' convention centers offer headquarters hotels which is often a "must-have" for meeting planners.
Increased visitor spending means increased impact for Virginia Beach's local economy. This helps to eliminate additional tax burdens on our local residents to provide essential services. Tourism also creates attractions that contribute to the high quality of life our residents deserve. Tourism created over 12,900 jobs in 2015 and almost 14,000 jobs in 2016. It is an industry that we can all celebrate and protect.