The Visit Fairfax team has been hard at work selling and promoting Fairfax County to potential clients, groups, and media.  The team is always happy to share updates from tradeshows, appointments, and events.  Read on for an updated list of recent activities and what will be happening over the next few months. You may find that this information can benefit your business. 


Associations & Reunions:

 

Government:

 

Sports:

 

Tour & Travel:

 

Visitor Services:

  • The annual Ambassador class featuring resources offered by Visit Fairfax to County sales professionals was held in February and was generously hosted by The Westin Tysons Corner hotel. This class is always popular because it not only provides a valuable overview of County tourism assets but gives an overview of what Visit Fairfax provides to hoteliers to facilitate the sales process. Other regular Ambassador classes are coming up in the months ahead, so anyone wishing to host a class for their staff should contact Sue Porter at sporter@fxva.com.

  • In addition to seeing the iconic cherry trees in DC, many visitors experienced memorable events, sponsored by Visit Fairfax, in Fairfax County during the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Several of the County’s venues hosted hundreds of attendees from the local area, as well as out of town. Frying Pan Farm Park invited participants “Into the Woods” with a fun trail experience of spring activities. Mosaic District presented a two-day mini-festival with live music, kids activities, fresh farm market and more. The Fairfax County Visitor Center hosted a culture day with free souvenirs of origami and calligraphy. Kids experimented with blossoms in unique ways at the Children’s Science Center Lab. During its Bonsai Day, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens offered demonstrations on how to care for the unique bonsai plant. This week, there is still one last Fairfax event to round out the Festival experience. The Workhouse Arts Center’s Second Saturday program will feature special cherry-themed cocktails and other blossom-centered activities. With all of these special events in the County, it’s clear that there is always plenty of fun to be had during the Festival right in our own backyard!


Marketing & Communications:

  • In March, Visit Fairfax hosted Canadian blogger Sharon Mendalaoui on a trip focused on health and wellness and domestic blogger Carl Hedinger on a family and under-the-radar-focused trip through Northern Virginia. 
  • Tourism Week will return the first week of May. Keep tabs on our special landing page for updates on 2020's celebrations.
  • In May, Visit Fairfax will host two domestic bloggers on a week-long trip through Northern Virginia highlighting the best of the region. These connections came about through Visit Fairfax's membership in the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance (MATPRA) and are being organized by the five localities that make up Northern Virginia. Two other similar hosted trips are on the books for June and July with different outlets as well. 
  • In mid-May, Visit Fairfax will attend Simpleview's annual conference in Phoenix, AZ to learn about the latest trends and opportunities in marketing. We are happy to share information gleaned from this trip with our stakeholders - please reach out if interested.
  • In late May/early June, Visit Fairfax will attend IPW in Las Vegas, NV. IPW is one of the largest travel tradeshows in the world and Visit Fairfax will be sharing information about the county to more than 20 members of the media. We will also have a major sales presence at this show.
  • Also in June, Visit Fairfax will join members of the Northern Virginia Tourism Partnership's public relations committee on a media mission to Toronto, where we will meet with various members of the media to share story ideas and news updates about the region.
  • Don't forget to upload your photos to Visit Fairfax's new image portal so that we can use them to help promote your venue. Add photo or video assets throughout the year at this link: https://upload.crowdriff.com/visit-fairfax-0047170f.
  • Visit Fairfax has a brand new blog! If you are interested in writing guest blog content or using some of this content on your own website, please contact Ali Morris (amorris@fxva.com). 
  • Visit Fairfax is pleased to share some new clips that have recently been published as a result of previous familiarization tours of the county or direct efforts of our team. Please contact Ali Morris for more details at amorris@fxva.com.
  • Visit Fairfax continues to see incredible growth on our social media accounts. Please help us continue to grow by tagging us (@VisitFairfax) on your own accounts and by using our hashtag, #FXVA.