2010 Virginia Tourism Summit

The Virginia Tourism Summit & VACVB Annual Meeting is the association's event of the year. Over three days in April, the membership came together for networking, information, education and celebration. The Tourism Summit & Annual Meeting was a great opportunity for DMO representatives to learn what products and services are available from the Allied members, not to mention the invaluable exchange of ideas and thoughts among other bureaus and organizations across the Commonwealth.
 
Presentations Now Available!

Many presenters have made their presentations available to you online. Please click the links below to download their presentations.

Adam Sacks presentation: Making the Case for Business Travel and the CVB

Geoff Freeman presentation: The Travel Industry: From Frivolous to Essential

Paco Saldaña presentation: US Travel - Face of Travel Presentation Toolkit

USTA has also provided videos covering topics at the conference including, Paco Saldaña is the Face of Travel and The Story of Meetings Mean Business Campaign.

Our Presenters

Adam Sacks - Managing Director, Tourism Economics
Geoff Freeman- Sr. VP of Public Affairs, U.S. Travel Association

2010 Virgo Awards

The Annual Virgo Travel and Tourism Awards paid tribute to the individuals, groups, businesses and destination marketing organizations that significantly contributed to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s economy through tourism promotion and development.

Virgo Award Category Descriptions

Advertising & Promotions: Print - Brochures, magazines, newsletters, supplements or ads (including print ad campaigns)

Advertising & Promotions: Interactive - Web sites, interactive CDs/DVDs, kiosks

Advertising & Promotions: Online & eMarketing - Online search engine optimization, pay-per-click, e-mail, eNewsletters, social network marketing

Destination Event of the Year - Events, festivals, sports tournaments, concerts, reenactments, shows that generated a significant number of visitors

Eco-Tourism - Sustainable tourism and responsible initiatives to promote tourism efforts in an environmental-friendly way

Heritage Tourism - Initiatives that preserve and celebrate the culture, history and personal interaction within a community

DMO “Rising Star” Leadership Award - Honors a DMO tourism professional whose leadership efforts have greatly benefitted the travel and tourism industry

International Marketing & Promotions - Activities, events, and marketing initiatives that increased international travel

Public Relations Initiative - Community awareness campaigns and community pride initiatives

Regional Marketing initiatives - Two or more cities, counties or towns that have established a program, event or campaign that markets a region as a consolidated destination

Sales Manager/Team of the Year - Honors the sales efforts of an individual or team whose destination greatly benefitted from the direct booking of a meeting/convention resulting in significant economic impact, media attention and/or additional bookings

Visitor Center of the Year - Parks and recreation departments, visitor centers and civic centers

Tourism Advocate: The Spica Award - Honors an individual from the private or public sector whose efforts have helped “brighten” the tourism industry in the Commonwealth

Adam Sacks

Adam Sacks is the founder and Managing Director of Tourism Economics; an Oxford Economics company dedicated to analytically-based consulting to the tourism sector.

Adam has worked with hundreds of tourism sector clients over the past fifteen years.

On the public sector side, Adam has worked with national, provincial/state and local tourism offices throughout the world. He is an authority on measuring the economic impact of tourism activity-both broadly and for specific initiatives and projects. He has advised destinations on tourism investment policy, the effects of proposed entry procedures, tourism taxation, and marketing strategies. He has provided numerous destinations with analysis on market positioning and emerging opportunities. Adam has also implemented the UN-sanctioned methodology for measuring the economic impact of tourism (Tourism Satellite Accounting) for over a dozen countries and for seven states.

Adam has consulted with multi-national hotel chains, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, theme parks, resort developers, and retail operators to measure current and future market opportunities. He has presented to numerous corporate strategic planning teams on the threats and opportunities facing their businesses within the projected travel and economic climate.

Adam also develops custom models for quantifying market opportunities and competitive risks for clients. On a related front, Adam has developed tourism forecasting models with strong track records.
Adam is a frequent speaker on issues related to tourism market analysis, the economic impact of tourism and travel-demand forecasting and has presented at the TIA Marketing Outlook Forum, NYU Hotel Investment Conference, OECD Conference on Tourism Statistics, Cultural and Heritage Tourism Summit, Travel Business Roundtable, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference, ITB Berlin, ARDA, The World Bank, Transportation Research Board Annual Conference, and Travel & Tourism Research Association. He has also presented tourism impact results to governments around the world. He is a member of the Travel Industry Association's Research Board and the US Department of Commerce Tourism Advisory Board.

Geoff Freeman

Mr. Freeman is senior vice president of public affairs for the U.S. Travel Association, the nation's leading voice for increasing travel to and within the United States. Mr. Freeman leads all advocacy activities for the organization, including lobbying, strategic communications and grassroots mobilization.

Prior to the U.S. Travel Association, Mr. Freeman was executive director of the Discover America Partnership, a coalition of some of America's foremost business dedicated to striking the right balance between homeland security and travel facilitation. Launched in September 2006, the campaign pushed meaningful visa and entry reforms through the United States Congress and drove more than 1,000 news stories about the importance of welcoming international visitors. In its brief existence, the Partnership raised nearly five million dollars and motivated the travel community to play a more active role in Washington policymaking.

Mr. Freeman has managed a variety of complex public affairs campaigns and excelled in developing innovative outreach strategies. Prior to launching the Discover America Partnership, Mr. Freeman was a vice president with APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs firm, where he managed an array of issue campaigns, including the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA). The PPA, supported by America's pharmaceutical companies, is the largest effort ever created to connect uninsured Americans with free prescription medicines. The campaign succeed in helping more than two million Americans in its first year of operation, driving over 5,000 news stories and repositioning the pharmaceutical industry.

Previously, Mr. Freeman was the Director of Government Relations and Strategic Outreach for Freddie Mac where he developed and implemented an innovative program to highlight the corporation's activities in local markets. Under Mr. Freeman's direction, Freddie Mac teamed with local stakeholders and elected officials to celebrate newfound homeownership opportunities presented to millions of Americans across the country.

Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Freeman served as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the American Association of Health Plans, the leading representative of the managed care industry. Mr. Freeman helped guide the media and strategic communications strategy around several high-profile and emotional issues including the Patients' Bill of Rights and Medicare reform. In an effort to build support for the industry beyond-the-beltway, Mr. Freeman developed several innovative initiatives including a highly successful Hollywood outreach campaign and a partnership with physicians in the fight for medical liability reform.

Mr. Freeman is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two children.