The sales team at Visit Fairfax is hard at work promoting and selling Fairfax County as a prime meeting destination. From virtual tradeshows and virtual FAM tours to in-person conferences, events, and meetings, our sales managers are planning many exciting strategies to represent the great assets and businesses of Fairfax County.

Here is a snapshot of some upcoming events, activities, and appointments our sales team is working on. The team is always happy to share updates and notes from these events, so feel free to reach out at any time.
 


On the Meetings Side:

Dean Miller, our National Sales Manager in the Associations/Reunions markets, is headed back out on the road after being fully vaccinated. In the coming months, you can see Dean at:

  • Independent Planner Education Conference (IPEC) in Louisville, KY in April, where we’ll meet one-on-one with 25 independent planners booking a variety of association, corporate, and government groups.
  • Rendezvous South in Lake Charles, LA in May, where we’ll meet with 30 association and corporate planners.
  • The Military Reunion Network Educational Summit in Colorado Springs, CO, in June, meeting with more than 40 military reunion planners.
  • The Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE) Annual Conference in Virginia Beach, VA, also in June, meeting with dozens of Virginia state association planners and executives.
  • Destination Southeast in Marco Island, FL in July, where we’ll meet with two dozen corporate and association planners.

 

On the Tour & Travel Side: 

Linda Horowitz, our National Sales Manager for International and Domestic Group Tour, has some innovative virtual offerings coming up this spring. Here's the scoop on Linda's markets:

  • Visit Fairfax participated in a virtual road trip hosted by Virginia Tourism Corporation on February 18, 2021. During this hour-long webinar, Visit Fairfax, along with counterparts in Lynchburg and Chesapeake, presented destination overviews to 29 operators. Three Fairfax County partners (River-Sea Chocolates, Huntley Meadows Park and the National Museum of the U.S. Army) who were featured in the presentation also attended. A new regional itinerary featuring the three destinations was developed and sent to participants following the webinar.
  • Visit Fairfax will attend Travel Alliance Partner’s virtual TAP Dance from April 19-21, 2021. During this exclusive members-only show, Visit Fairfax will have appointments with 28 tour operator partners to promote our destination and gain insight into the current national tour trends. This reinvented show will also feature a dedicated product development session where suppliers and buyers collaborate to develop a collection of new regional travel products; Ignite Travel Collection. Ignite products will be sold by TAP and promoted to TAP’s network of travel buyers.
  • Visit Fairfax will attend American Bus Association's (ABA) virtual Annual Marketplace from May 25-27, and June 8-10, 2021. The marketplace is the premier conference for motorcoach group travel and tourism in the US and Canada. In addition to pre-scheduled appointments, the show will also offer educational e-workshops and a virtual networking lounge.

 

On the Sports Side:

Eric Kulczycky, our National Sales Manager in charge of the sports market, is also fully vaccinated and is raring to attend in-person tradeshows. Until they are up and running, here’s a virtual show he’ll be attending in the meantime:

  • Sports ETA SportsBIX Xchange II (May 18-20, 2021) is a three-day virtual event featuring business appointments and industry networking opportunities for its members. Virtual attendees will have multiple one-on-one 15-minute appointments with key decision-makers as well as networking opportunities with sports events rights-holders, access to dozens of new and updated RFPs, and numerous networking opportunities in the virtual ballroom. Additionally, a virtual Locker Room will be open to all attendees to view documents (RFPs, fact sheets, and videos) from each rights-holder.