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Direct visitor spending in 2024 topped pre-pandemic visitor spending (2019) by nearly 25%.
ROANOKE, Va., Sept. 9, 2025 – In 2024, $923.1 million was directly spent by visitors in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, another record and a 4.6% increase over 2023. Direct visitor spending in Virginia’s Blue Ridge also supported a record 7,418 jobs in 2024.
Visitor spending provides local tax revenue that enhances residents' quality of life. The direct spending by visitors helps to reduce the annual local taxes paid by residents. In 2024, direct visitor spending generated $44.6 million in local tax revenue for the Cities of Roanoke and Salem and the Counties of Botetourt, Franklin and Roanoke. This resulted in an average tax savings of $347.38 per household in Virginia’s Blue Ridge.
Beyond direct visitor spending, the impact of tourism in Virginia’s Blue Ridge is even larger. When indirect and induced spending* are factored in, tourism generated $1.417 billion in local economic impact, a 4.4% increase over 2023. *Indirect and induced spending includes spending on companies within the region that provided goods and services to businesses in the local tourism economy.
Despite Hurricane Helene’s impact on tourism during peak visitation season, key performance indicators in Virginia’s Blue Ridge continued to break records. Visit VBR set a new record for traffic to its website in FY 24-25, with over 2 million unique visitors. This is over 5,500 new individuals coming to the website every day. Over 80% of Visit VBR's web traffic is from people outside the area, with leading feeder markets such as Northern Virginia/Washington, DC, Richmond, VA, and Norfolk/Virginia Beach.
Data for the first half of 2025 shows that tourism continues to perform strongly in the region. YOY lodging demand (Jan - June 2025) in Virginia’s Blue Ridge is up +3.0% and revenue is up +6.9%. This is well above the average YOY increases for national lodging demand (+0.1%) and revenue (+1.5%) and state lodging demand (+2.2%) and revenue (+3.1%).
Efforts by Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge in 2025, including a strategic spring marketing campaign and hosting the USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Bike National Championships, are paying off in big ways. Visit VBR’s targeted spring marketing campaign (April - June 2025) in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA markets generated over 52.9 million impressions and 5.3 million engagements. The USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Bike National Championships brought in over 1,200 riders from 44 states across the country for six days of racing.
Landon Howard, President of Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge said, “These record-breaking numbers are a huge deal for Virginia’s Blue Ridge. Visitor spending generates tax revenue that enhances the quality of life for our residents and local businesses that make Virginia’s Blue Ridge a great place to live, work, and play. We are encouraged by recent figures that show our region is pacing well ahead of state and national hotel data in 2025, despite economic uncertainty in the national and overall travel industry.”
About Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge (Visit VBR)
Visit VBR is the official destination marketing organization for Virginia’s Blue Ridge which includes the Cities of Roanoke and Salem and the Counties of Botetourt, Franklin, and Roanoke. The region is easily accessible via the Roanoke-Blacksburg Airport (ROA), Interstate 81, and Amtrak’s northeast regional route. Virginia’s Blue Ridge (VBR) is nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, providing a metro mountain mix of exciting outdoor adventure with refined culture. For more information, go to www.VisitVBR.com.
Methodology
Virginia Tourism Corporation receives its annual economic impact data from Tourism Economics. The information is based on domestic visitor spending (travelers from within the United States) from per-person trips. Visitors included those who stayed overnight or traveled more than 50 miles to the destination. Detailed economic impact data and methodology are available at vatc.org/research.
