DISCOVER PRINCE WILLIAM & MANASSAS SHOWCASES COUNTY AND CITY TO THE WORLD AT U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION’S ‘IPW’

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST)

MANASSAS, Virginia – June 12, 2017 – Discover Prince William & Manassas, the tourism marketing agency for Prince William County & Manassas, Virginia, is concluding an intensive two-weeks of promotional and sales activities to showcase Prince William County and the City of Manassas to international tour operators and media. The IPW trade show, the American travel industry’s leading international marketplace and largest generator of travel into the U.S., drew more than 5,000 attendees from around the globe to the Greater Washington Metro Region June 3 – 7^th, 2017. This is the first time the trade show, of which celebrated its 49^th year, has been hosted by the Washington, DC region. The effect of the show is anticipated to generate a minimum of one million new visitors to the Capital region by 2020.

The sales and marketing teams of Discover Prince William & Manassas prepared for a jam-packed itinerary before, after and during the tradeshow. More than 1,300 tour operators/buyers and hundreds of media professionals from more than 70 countries conducted pre-scheduled business meetings with American travel destinations, including Prince William County & Manassas, Virginia.

According to Capital Region USA, overseas visitors stay longer and spend more money than those from within the United States. In 2015, a record 2.6 million overseas travelers visited the capital region (Greater DC), stayed an average of 9 nights and spent a record $2 billion on lodging, meals, shopping, attractions and other services across Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. These overseas visitors help generate nearly 39,000 jobs throughout the Greater Washington Region.

SELLING ‘NOVA’ AND PRINCE WILLIAM & MANASSAS TO THE WORLD

The Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium (NVVC), a strategic tourism marketing alliance between

The tourism marketing agencies of Prince William & Manassas, Loudoun, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and the Virginia Tourism Corporation, hosted a series of engaging activation events, media tours and sales appointments throughout all five jurisdictions to allow media and international tour operators to taste, sip, and see their way through Northern Virginia.  The alliance is designed to raise the profile and economic vitality of Northern Virginia as a regional tourist destination.

Activities included an official welcome lounge at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) that provided samples of Northern Virginia wines, and craft beers; media and sales familiarization tours that showcased the regions history, identity, proximity to DC, shopping, dining, attractions and more, and branding and public relations outreach throughout the trade show brought awareness and exposure for the region as a whole. Additionally, the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium negotiated with Destination, DC to have a wine and craft beer tasting room experience at the trade show’s closing event at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. for added exposure.

About Discover Prince William & Manassas

Discover Prince William & Manassas is the Destination Marketing Organization (also known as a Convention & Visitors Bureau) marketing Prince William County and the City of Manassas, Virginia as a destination for domestic and international leisure, group and business travelers, reunions, weddings, small meetings, and events. Tourism and travel is a $608 million dollar economy in Prince William County and in the City of Manassas that supports nearly 7,000 jobs. Prince William and Manassas is one of the top ten travel destinations (based on total travel expenditures) in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

For more news information on Discover Prince William & Manassas, visit discoverpwm.com or follow on Twitter @PWMPress.

About U.S. Travel Association (host of IPW)

The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $2.3 trillion in economic output and supports 15.3 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. Visit www.ustravel.org.

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