Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau

What Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau does

The Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is a private, quasi-governmental nonprofit destination marketing organization that serves as the official tourism promotion entity for the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was founded as the city's DMO over a century ago and is funded through a self-assessment tax on hotel rooms and assessments from tourism industry partners; revenue is not publicly disclosed. The CVB promotes Virginia Beach across leisure, meetings and conventions, sports events, group travel, and weddings, and operates the LEED Gold-certified Virginia Beach Convention Center, a 250,000+ sq ft facility including a 150,000-sq-ft column-free exhibit hall and a 31,000-sq-ft column-free ballroom.

The CVB's core products include the VisitVirginiaBeach.com digital tourism platform (trip planning, accommodation listings, event calendars, RFP submission), the Virginia Beach Convention Center, and dedicated planning services for meetings, sports events, group travel, and weddings. Supporting products include the free Virginia Beach Savings Pass, the digital/print Visitor's Guide, and Atlantic Park (a 10+ acre mixed-use surf destination sub-brand). Its go-to-market combines a sales-led Convention Sales Team and Sports Event Planning Team with a multi-channel consumer marketing stack spanning content marketing, email, organic social (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube), PR/earned media, and event-driven promotions around an annual festival calendar.

The organization serves five primary customer segments: meeting and convention planners, sports event rights holders and planners, group tour organizers, wedding planners and couples, and leisure travelers. B2B distribution runs through dedicated field sales teams, while B2C engagement runs through the website, social channels, newsletter, and a network of local tourism partners coordinated via the Partner Pipeline portal. Strategic partnerships include Virginia Tourism Corporation ('Virginia is for Lovers'), Brand USA / Visit The USA, Miles Partnership (digital), the U.S. Green Building Council (LEED), the International Live Events Association, and the Virginia Green Travel Alliance. The destination draws more than 14 million visitors per year across 38 miles of coastline.

Name

Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau

Legal name

Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau

Website

https://visitvirginiabeach.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official nonprofit destination marketing organization for the City of Virginia Beach, promoting leisure travel, meetings, conventions, sports events, group travel, and weddings to more than 14 million annual visitors through the VisitVirginiaBeach.com platform and the LEED Gold-certified Convention Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Tour Operators (56152)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Convention & Exhibition Centers (Public Convention Centers, Civic Centers) (THAHAAAA)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Convention services
• Tourism promotion
• Event planning
• Hospitality services

Headquarters

HQ city

Virginia Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tourism Tax Revenue: As a municipal destination marketing organization, the CVB is funded through local tourism-related taxes and visitor spending, which support the organization's marketing and promotional activities year-round.
2. Convention Center Event Services: The Virginia Beach Convention Center hosts events ranging from small meetings to large-scale conventions, generating revenue through venue rentals, food and beverage services, and associated event support services.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official destination marketing organization for the City of Virginia Beach, promoting the destination to leisure travelers, meeting planners, sports event organizers, group tour operators, and wedding planners. It operates the LEED Gold-certified Virginia Beach Convention Center (250,000+ sq ft of event space) and runs the VisitVirginiaBeach.com tourism platform. Core sellable services include meeting/convention planning, sports event planning, group travel planning, and wedding planning, delivered through dedicated sales teams and the Partner Pipeline B2B portal.

Product overview

Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau operates as a destination marketing organization offering a portfolio of tourism services centered around the VisitVirginiaBeach.com platform and the LEED Gold-certified Virginia Beach Convention Center. The core offerings include meeting and convention planning services, sports event planning, group travel planning, and wedding planning. Supporting the main services are the Virginia Beach Savings Pass (free discount program), the Visitor's Guide, and the Atlantic Park surf destination development. The Convention Center serves as the flagship facility with over 250,000 square feet of programmable event space. The product portfolio collectively supports over 14 million annual visitors and positions Virginia Beach as a premier leisure, business, and sports tourism destination.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Virginia Beach Convention Center State-of-the-art, LEED Gold-certified event facility offering 250,000+ sq ft of programmable space (150,000 sq ft column-free exhibit hall, 31,000 sq ft column-free ballroom, and configurable meeting rooms) for conventions, tradeshows, corporate events, and weddings.
• Meeting and Convention Planning Services Comprehensive planning services for corporate retreats, executive board meetings, multi-venue conferences, and large-scale conventions, including venue selection, RFP submission assistance, Convention Sales Team support, and end-to-end logistics coordination.
• Sports Event Planning Services Planning services for hosting sporting events across disciplines including football, volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer, track and field, golf, wrestling, surfing, skateboarding, dance, and cheer. The CVB's dedicated Sports Event Planning Team supports rights holders and tournament directors with venue, lodging, and logistics coordination.
• Group Travel Planning Services
• Wedding Planning Services Wedding planning assistance including beach wedding locations, resort and historic hotel venues (e.g., The Historic Cavalier Hotel), Convention Center weddings, guest accommodations, group activities, dining options, eco-wedding support, and vendor connections.
• VisitVirginiaBeach.com Tourism Platform The official tourism website platform serving as the central destination resource: trip planning tools, interactive maps, event calendars, accommodation listings (hotels, B&Bs, camping, vacation rentals), dining guides, attractions, and articles on beaches, outdoor activities, and family experiences.
• Virginia Beach Savings Pass A free savings pass that unlocks discounts on coastal attractions, dining, and experiences for visitors throughout Virginia Beach.
• Partner Pipeline (Tourism Partner Network)

Quantifiable outcome

• Virginia Beach welcomes more than 14 million visitors per year to its shores.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Virginia Tourism Corporation (Virginia is for Lovers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirginia Beach CVB participates in the statewide 'Virginia is for Lovers' tourism branding campaign coordinated by the Virginia Tourism Corporation, leveraging the internationally recognized state tourism brand to promote Virginia Beach as a premier travel destination.
• Visit The USAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirginia Beach CVB partners with the Brand USA / Visit The USA international tourism marketing initiative to promote Virginia Beach to international travelers and leverage federal tourism promotion resources.
• Miles PartnershipcoreTechnology or IntegrationMiles Partnership collaborated with the Virginia Beach CVB to develop the new visitvirginiabeach.com website, which earned a 2026 IAC Award for achieving a 100 accessibility score. Miles Partnership provides digital marketing and website development services to the CVB.
• Virginia Green Travel AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Virginia Green Travel Alliance recognized Virginia Beach's commitment to sustainability, awarding the destination accolades for green travel practices. The CVB promotes sustainable tourism across Virginia Beach's diverse regions.
• Local Tourism Businesses (Hotels, Restaurants, Attractions)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe CVB partners with local tourism businesses across hotels, restaurants, attractions, transportation, and entertainment through its Partner Pipeline program. These partners gain expanded reach, inclusion in CVB marketing materials, FAM trip opportunities, and co-marketing support in exchange for supporting the CVB's destination marketing mission.
• U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Virginia Beach Convention Center was the first convention center in the United States to earn LEED Gold certification as an existing building from the U.S. Green Building Council, demonstrating leadership in sustainable building operations.
• International Live Events Association (ILEA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Virginia Beach Convention Center was recently named among the best venues by members of the International Live Events Association, recognizing its facilities and services for live events.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Visit Orlando: Visit Orlando is a comparable size U.S. destination marketing organization promoting a major leisure + convention destination with convention center infrastructure, group sales, and digital tourism platform — structurally analogous to Virginia Beach CVB in mission, funding model (hotel tax), and B2B/B2C mix.
• Choose Chicago: Choose Chicago is a city-level DMO that markets McCormick Place convention campus and leisure tourism with a similar sales-driven convention team, RFP infrastructure, and partner network — directly comparable in DMO operating model to Virginia Beach CVB.
• NYC & Company: NYC & Company is a large city-level DMO running convention, leisure, group travel, and wedding sales teams backed by a major tourism website and partner portal — a scaled-up analog of Virginia Beach CVB's full-service DMO model.
• Destination DC: Destination DC is the official DMO for Washington, D.C., sharing similar Mid-Atlantic drive market, a convention center, group/event sales teams, and a partner network structure nearly identical to Virginia Beach CVB.
• Discover Los Angeles: Discover Los Angeles is a large U.S. city DMO with a full MICE + leisure + sports events + weddings portfolio and a partner portal structurally similar to Virginia Beach CVB's mix of business segments.
• Visit Myrtle Beach: Visit Myrtle Beach is the most direct competitor — a coastal Southeast DMO targeting the same drive-to Mid-Atlantic leisure and meeting market from a beachfront destination, with a comparable convention center, event calendar, and hotel-tax-funded DMO structure.
• Explore Charleston: Explore Charleston is a Southeast coastal DMO with a similar beachfront/historic destination mix, hotel-tax funding, convention center, and group/event sales teams competing in overlapping drive and group leisure segments with Virginia Beach CVB.

Broad incumbents

• ASM Global: ASM Global is the world's largest venue and convention center management/operator, managing comparable convention facilities; as a private-public venue operator it represents both a potential operational partner and a benchmark for CVB-managed facility economics like the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Regional players

• Visit Raleigh: Visit Raleigh is the closest geographic peer — a same-state DMO in North Carolina running a convention center, group/convention sales, and sports events teams that compete with Virginia Beach CVB specifically for the Raleigh/Washington D.C. drive and convention markets named in Virginia Beach's geographic positioning.

Others

• Brand USA: Brand USA is the national destination marketing organization and an explicit partner of Virginia Beach CVB; it represents the umbrella federal-level counterpart for international visitor promotion and a coordination layer above the DMO.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/VisitVABeach
• Facebookfacebook.com/VisitVaBeach
• Instagraminstagram.com/visitvabeach
• Xx.com/VisitVaBch

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau