CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Visitors to Albemarle County and Charlottesville spent nearly $1 billion in 2024, a raise of almost 3.5%, according to the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Not surprisingly, a large portion of that money was spent on dining.
Visitors spent $348.8 million on food and beverages in 2024, while they spent $214.8 million on lodging.
“People want to come to visit and are really enjoying their experiences,” Courtney Cacatian, executive director for the Charlottsville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, told Cville Right Now. “We know that most of the people who come through end up being repeat travelers. That loyalty is something that really means a lot to our region, and we love seeing them come back again and again.”
Direct visitor spending reached $989.8 million in 2024, and a big rise in the county was a driving force behind that. Albemarle County saw $587.2 million in visitor spending come in, according to the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The city brought in $402.6 million in 2024, actually a slight decrease from the previous year, though that drop was less than 1%. Cacatian noted that the opening of the Virginia Guest House, a 223,000-square foot hotel and conference center at UVA, in the spring could bring a boost to the city’s future numbers.
Across the Commonwealth, the tourism business was booming in 2024, with Virginia bringing in a record-high $35.1 billion according to the VTC, up 5.4% over the previous year. That was driven in part by a surge in overnight visitors – 44.7 million people spent at least one night in Virginia, an all-time high and the first-time the total surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
Travelers spent an average of $96 million per day while in Virginia, driving $2.5 billion in state and local tax revenue. Locally, tax revenue in the county checked in at $27.7 million and in the city at $20.8 million.
“We are incredibly proud to see the continued momentum of Virginia’s tourism industry propelling us to new heights,” said President and CEO of Virginia Tourism Corporation Rita McClenny in a statement. “Through strategic marketing and close collaboration with statewide partners, VTC is driving new demand and encouraging longer stays across Virginia. From coast to cliff, our diverse destinations continue to captivate. As we look ahead to milestone moments such as the VA250 commemoration, Virginia is poised to play a leading role in how visitors engage with history, culture, and adventure.”
Among the biggest attractions bringing to people to the region, Cacatian said, are events at the University of Virginia – including football games and finals weekend – fall foliage tours, and historical sites.
“It’s such a beautiful area and people like to experience that beauty in a bunch of different ways,” Cacatian said. “What I love about promoting our area is the wealth of things that we have to offer and how much is going on anytime of the year, but especially in the spring and fall. We have a lot of strong tourism products.”
Tourism-supported jobs in the area totaled 7,172 and there’s still room for growth there, as many tourism-related businesses are still experiencing staffing shortages.
There are too many national and state economic unknowns to project if the growth trend will continue, Cacatian said, but the Virginia tourism business does have a strong base of local and regional customers to bring a measure of stability.
“It’s really hard to say with the national economy and a little bit with the state economy as well where we’re going be going for a year from now,” she said. “We’re in our ninth month of 2025, and I think we have seen international visitation is down and hesitant, but the bulk of what we see in Charlottesville and Albemarle County ends up being from our drive markets. So, that’s a really positive thing for the sustainability of tourism as a whole.”
