Va. tourism generated $33.3B for 2023
Virginia’s tourism industry generated $33.3 billion in visitor spending in 2023, an increase of nearly 10% over 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. “The commonwealth’s record-breaking visitor spending numbers are a testament to our abundance of attractions and unique destinations,” Gov. Youngkin stated in a news release. Virginia’s tourism industry supported over [...]
Retro Hospitality adds three hotels to portfolio
Richmond-based boutique hotel advisory and management firm Retro Hospitality has added three Virginia hotels to its portfolio, the firm announced Wednesday. The company now operates The Bee and The Holbrook Hotel in Danville and The Lofts at Downtown Salem in Salem. Other hotels in its portfolio include the Blackburn Inn and Conference Center in Staunton, […]
Va. casinos report almost $53M in January revenue
January gaming revenues from Virginia’s three casinos totaled $52.86 million, according to Virginia Lottery data released Thursday. Virginia’s first casino, the Bristol Casino: Future Home of Hard Rock temporary facility, opened July 2022. The Virginia Lottery Board approved HR Bristol’s casino license in April 2022. Last month, the Bristol casino generated about $9.9 million fro[...]
Va. hotel revenues continue to recover from pandemic
Almost all Virginia hotel markets have fully recovered financially from the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hampton Roads continues to outpace Virginia and the U.S. in improvement based on hotel revenue. Virginia hotel revenues through November were 12.7% higher than they were in 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for […]
Hampton Roads hotel revenues outpace Va., country
Hotel revenues in Hampton Roads outpaced Virginia and the nation through October, according to a report from Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, citing data from STR, a division of CoStar Group that provides market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. Through October, hotel revenues were 22.8% higher in Hampton Roads, […]
Checking in
Neither Radford University nor the University of Virginia had to look far for collaborators on projects that have altered their campus footprints. The universities called on their own foundations to push forward the construction of two new on-campus hotels — The Highlander Hotel Radford and The Forum Hotel at U.Va. — and an upcoming hotel […]
Fed Fifth District economy grows slightly
The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) grew slightly in recent weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday. Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathere[...]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: JIM McGLOTHLIN
McGlothlin has always had an innate sense for a good business opportunity. He built a fortune from coal mines and then pivoted to hospitality as the coal business began to recede. A William & Mary alumnus, McGlothlin has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a law degree. He started out as a lawyer in Grundy, […]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: AKHIL JAIN
For more than a decade, Jain has run Landmark Hotel Group, a hospitality company that manages, owns and develops hotels in North Carolina and Virginia under the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Radisson brands. In 2021, Landmark expanded into the housing market with the development of Ellipse Urban Apartments, a 287-unit luxury apartment complex in Hampton. […]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: MICHAEL GEORGE
A 40-year hospitality industry veteran, George founded Crescent Hotels & Resorts in 2001. The company operates more than 90 hotels and resorts and more than 250 restaurants and bars in the U.S and Canada. Its hotel portfolio includes Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt brands, along with a collection of independent hotels and resorts. This spring, Crescent […]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: NEEL DESAI
Desai joined LTD Hospitality Group in 1998 as the second generation of the family-owned hotel development and management company co-founded by Desai’s father in 1983. Perhaps entrepreneurism is in his DNA because Desai and longtime friend Bijal Patel founded S2K Hospitality in 2021 to manage and develop fast-casual restaurants. In May, the partners opened a […]


















