Earlier this month, Lisa Meriweather, the Tourism Manager of Danville and Pittsylvania County’s Regional Tourism Brand, Visit SoSi, was sworn in as a member of the Virginia Tourism Authority’s Board of Directors at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, VA.
This appointment from Governor Glenn Youngkin officially begins her six-year term. The Virginia Tourism Authority, doing business as the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC), oversees the promotion of the Virginia tourism economy and manages the effective deployment of more than 70 professional staff members dedicated to expanding inbound domestic and international travel and film production across the Commonwealth.
They work to increase visitor expenditures, tax revenues, and employment in Virginia. Virginia’s tourism industry directly supports more than 200,000 jobs. Travelers spent approximately $83 million per day in Virginia in 2022. These same visitors directly drove nearly $2.2 billion in state and local tax revenues helping to fund important services and quality of life improvements for Virginians across the Commonwealth. 2023 figures will be released by VTC later this year.
“It’s truly an honor to serve on this esteemed board with fellow tourism and economic development leaders from across the Commonwealth,” Meriwether said. “I’m especially thankful to Governor Youngkin for the appointment, and to Delegate Danny Marshall for the original nomination. I am honored to have the opportunity to represent our region at this level and I know that this board is working hard to complement local efforts like ours from all across the state. So, it’s very exciting to have our region recognized in this way.”
Meriwether joined Danville’s Office of Economic Development & Tourism as the Tourism Manager in November 2021, bringing more than 35 years of experience in Virginia hospitality, sales, and tourism to the city as it launched its new dedicated tourism program.
Since then, Meriwether has managed the development of a community-led, data-backed tourism master plan for the region, launched a tourism brand and advertising strategy, developed a variety of new industry trainings and advocacy programs to help local stakeholders make the most of growing regional momentum, developed new workforce readiness programs, and helped secure tens of thousands of dollars in regional grants to extend the program’s reach and impact.
At an event to celebrate the first official year of Visit SoSi promotions earlier this year, Meriwether’s team announced that over the last five years, the larger Danville Office of Economic Development & Tourism has secured more than $900M in new destination investment for the region.
“Lisa Meriwether has had a long track record of service to the Commonwealth, and we are very fortunate to have her skilled advocacy and promotional expertise supporting our region as we go through this exciting transformation,” Delegate Danny Marshall said.