The DRIVE Tourism+ grant program was built on the latest research and strategies from Virginia Tourism and what we have learned from travel trends over the last few years. VTC identified an industry-wide target level of visitor spending – $103 Million per day spent by visitors to Virginia by the end of calendar year 2026. This target level represented an acceleration of annual visitor spending growth in Virginia to remain competitive amongst our neighboring states.
VTC Analysis showed that states leading in visitor spending growth lead in broader economic growth metrics. Since the Pandemic, Virginia’s competitors that have grown visitor spending the fastest also grew employment and population at a leading pace. If Virginia’s growth was more moderate relative to our competitors, we would miss opportunities to build market share among travelers, potentially missing out on the further downstream benefits of economic growth. Visitor spending growth is powered by incremental visitor demand, a higher yield per visitor or a longer length of stay, in other words more visitors spending more and staying longer.
The DRIVE Tourism + workshop grant program, available to Virginia DMOs only, aimed to help Virginia communities remain competitive as tourism destinations by putting as much emphasis on tourism promotion and product development. The program helped communities to showcase their tourism assets and target the best audiences by supporting efforts that created immediate visitation and extending length of stay.
DRIVE Tourism+ Communities
Round 1 (September 2024 – April 2025)
- Charles City County
- Charlottesville-Albemarle Co
- Eastern Shore
- Giles Co
- King and Queen Co
- Nelson Co
- Newport News
- Northern Neck
- Smithfield – Isle of Wight
- Waynesboro
Round 2 (April 2025 – October 2025)
- Dinwiddie Co
- Floyd Co
- Franklin-Southampton Co
- Gloucester Co
- Goochland Co
- Middlesex Co
- Pennington Gap
- Town of Culpeper
- Town of Kilmarnock
- Winchester-Frederick Co