After Attracting Over 70,000 Visitors To VI Last Year, Tourism Markets Territory Heavily In D.C., Virginia And Maryland

The Virgin Islands Department of Tourism (D.O.T.) recently executed an impactful in-market mission to the Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia (D.M.V.) area in order to spur travel from the important mid-Atlantic market, D.O.T. announced late Monday.

D.O.T. Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty reported that the DMV region, which attracted more than 70,000 stay-over visitors last year, is a strategic market for the U.S. Virgin Islands due in part to United Airlines’s increased service to the Virgin Islands out of Washington Dulles International Airport.

Following the success of daily nonstop service from Washington, DC to St. Thomas this summer, United Airlines will enhance its service from this strong performing market with daily flights this winter season. The new flights will operate between Washington Dulles and Cyril E. King International Airport from Friday, December 16, 2016, through Monday, April 23, 2017.

While in-market, D.O.T. met with meeting planners, influencers, travel agents and the media, including an appearance by the commissioner on ABC’s “Good Morning Washington”. “This was an incredible and timely opportunity to share our key messages, including our plans to commemorate the Centennial in 2017, to thousands of viewers,” Mrs. Nicholson-Doty said.

Another highlight of the in-market mission was the department’s support of the Haltech ECU World Cup Finals — Import vs. Domestic drag racing event at Maryland International Raceway, which attracted tens of thousands of fans from November 4 to 6, according to the release.

“Our activation was all about identifying non-traditional opportunities for marketing exposure,” Mrs. Nicholson-Doty. “In these days of limited marketing dollars, you have to really expand your options outside the traditional scope and seek various ways to reach, attract and target new visitors. Supporting activities like these also allows us to build enthusiasm for future racing events in the territory.”