Tourism bet pays off for Danville and Pittsylvania

In 2024, visitor spending across Danville and Pittsylvania County reached $275.2 million, according to data from the Virginia Tourism Corp. That’s a year-over-year increase of 23.5% — making it the fastest-growing tourism destination in Virginia.

Tourism supported 2,221 local jobs and generated more than $11 million in local tax revenue across the region.

One obvious driver of growth: The $800 million Caesars Virginia, which offers 90,000 square feet of gaming space and a 320-room hotel tower, opened in Danville on Dec. 17, 2024. It replaced a temporary casino that had been in operation in 2023.

Even when casino spending is removed from the numbers, tourism spending in Danville and Pittsylvania still increased a whopping 15%, according to Lisa Meriwether, tourism manager for the region.

She credits the boost to years of legwork, beginning with the 2021 creation of a tourism division within Danville’s economic development department.

“We knew that we were going to have to come out of the gate and put a foot on the gas right away,” Meriwether says.

In spring 2023, local leaders formally unveiled Visit SoSi, the regional tourism brand for Danville and Pittsylvania. It’s a nod to Southside, a name that has long been used for this area.

Visit SoSi shined a spotlight on assets like Danville’s textiles history and the region’s mountain biking trails and river recreation. Officials launched a new website, personally delivered visitor guides across Virginia and ensured locals saw what’s special in their community.

“We are building an army of volunteers that are out there supporting the work we’re doing,” Meriwether says.

Madison Eades, area general manager for the Danville Hotel Collection, saw the surge’s effect on the collection’s two local boutique hotels, The Bee Hotel and The Holbrook Hotel. “It was nonstop,” she says. “Just go, go, go every single day.”

At the end of 2025, the collection was preparing to open a third boutique hotel, The Laurel, near Caesars Virginia.

Meriwether expects the flood of tourists to continue. In October, officials celebrated the $375,000-plus renovation of the Danville Visitor Center on River Park Drive. A satellite visitor center inside Caesars Virginia is expected to open in 2026.

“This is our moment,” Meriwether says. “We are seizing it in all the right ways.”