Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference coming to Richmond in 2021
Richmond will play host to next year’s Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference, Richmond Region Tourism announced Friday. The annual conference draws attendees from breweries, guilds, tour operators, marketing agencies and media from around the country. The 2021 conference will take place Feb. 23-25, 2021, at the Omni Richmond Hotel downtown. Richmond’s craft beer profile has […][...]
Top-ranked Virginia hotel has 23 rooms and five stars
After analyzing more than 30,000 hotels in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean, the U.S. News & World Report released its Best Hotels in the USA 2020 rankings on Tuesday, and three five-star Virginia hotels topped the list of the best hotels in the commonwealth. The Inn at Little Washington, a five-star […]
In St. Paul, renaissance is on the agenda
People once called St. Paul the Western Front. “St. Paul was a coal town, so the railroad would run in and drop people off there,” says Kimberly Christner, president and CEO of Williamsburg-based Cornerstone Hospitality. “One side of the railroad was dry and … the other side was wet with alcohol, and that was the [&helli[...]
Shamin Hotels buys Richmond Times-Dispatch building for $14.4M
Chester-based Shamin Hotels has bought the Richmond Times-Dispatch building in downtown Richmond for $14.462 million from a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary, Shamin President and CEO Neil Amin confirmed on Thursday. Shamin Hotels will be moving its headquarters into the four-story, 172,110-square-foot building at 300 East Grac[...]
Henrico indoor arena heads for goal line
Updated Jan. 20 The proposed replacement of the Richmond Coliseum is stirring up strong feelings among elected officials and residents in the city, but a dozen miles up Interstate 95, a smaller arena in Henrico County is quietly moving forward. Filling a need for indoor space to host high school basketball and other indoor sport[...]
Growth spurt
As the economy has been on the rise, so have hotels in many parts of Virginia. During the past 12 months, Virginia’s hotel industry has seen more than a billion dollars invested in hotel construction and renovation — everywhere from Richmond to Bristol. “The bulk of that is new construction,” says Eric Terry, preside[...]
Pharrell Williams-backed surf park on its way
After almost a year of negotiations, Virginia Beach City Council has struck a deal with Venture Realty Group to develop a mixed-use surf park and entertainment venue covering three city blocks near the oceanfront. Called Atlantic Park, the $325 million project will be built on the 10-acre site of The Dome, the geodesic concert v[...]
Finding its vibe
Lynchburg is cool, and people are starting to notice. The Hill City still has its big, well-established players, such as Liberty University and BWX Technologies. Liberty, with its 7,000-acre campus and its online programs, has more than 2,500 faculty teaching more than 111,000 students. Its operations are estimated to generate m[...]
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation taps new executive director
American Civil War Museum CEO Christy Coleman has been tapped as executive director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. She replaces the foundation’s longtime leader, Philip G. Emerson, who is retiring on Dec. 31 after 28 years. Coleman, who starts at JYF on Jan. 21, previously held leadership positions at the Charles H.[...]
Colonial Williamsburg appoints new CEO
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has appointed Cliff Fleet, the former head of Philip Morris USA, as the organization’s ninth president and CEO. Fleet will start his new role on Jan. 1. Fleet, who served as president and CEO of the Henrico County-based cigarette manufacturer from 2013 to 2017, will succeed Mitchell R[...]
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation executive director announces retirement
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Executive Director Philip G. Emerson will retire at the end of December after serving in a leadership role there for 33 years, the foundation announced Monday. Emerson was named executive director in May 1991, making him the third executive director in the agency’s 62-year history. The Jamesto[...]
International tourism to Virginia hits new record
Virginia's international tourism visitation surpassed 1.1 million in 2018.