DANVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Leaders in Danville and Pittsylvania counties have been working overtime to promote the area to tourists and locals, and they recently received a grant that will provide a big help.
From beautiful natural assets to growing retail and lodging options, Danville’s Economic and Tourism Development Office wants people to know Danville is the place to visit.
“Danville and Pittsylvania County are on the map. People are taking great notice. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Everybody wants to know what’s being talked about and we’re here to tell the story,” said Lisa Meriwether, tourism manager for Danville and Pittsylvania County.
The Visit SoSi tourism program just celebrated its first year. SoSi is an abbreviation that means lots to see and do. The staff accomplished a lot that year. For example, creating a tourism master plan to guide programming and investments, or launching a new brand identity or website.
Either way, there’s a lot more in the works to take Danville tourism to the next level.
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Recently, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism received a $10,000 grant from the DRIVE Outdoors program, and the plan is to use the funds to add seating to Anglers Park in hopes of attracting more events and people.
“There are a lot of sporting events going on, so we need more seating. Event and rights holders are telling us that this is what they need, that is what they want us to do. I said,” Meriwether said.
Funding doesn’t stop there. Governor Yonkin announced Tuesday that Visit SoSi is one of approximately 300 tourism programs to receive grants as part of the Virginia Tourism Authority’s Marketing Grants Program. Visit SoSi received grants totaling $32,500. The funds will be used to grow the brand digitally through marketing.
“We’re getting a lot of attention from a lot of communities in the three- to four-hour drive market, including places like Roanoke, Greensboro and Raleigh,” Meriwether said. “There’s going to be a lot of effort in these markets to introduce people to Visit SoSi.”
According to the Virginia Tourism Authority, Danville has secured $900 million in tourism investment funding over the past five years.
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“This is an astounding number for this community and I’m here to tell you this number is only going to continue to rise,” Meriwether said.
As Danville and Pittsylvania County continue to grow, city leaders hope to build on past successes and delight visitors.
“We want people to go home talking about all the great things they saw and enjoyed,” Meriwether said.
Click here to see Visit SoSi’s new tourism guide.
