Representatives from Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) touched down in Montreal last week to share the latest destination news and connect with travel agents, tour operators, and travel media. The event featured dinner and an immersive mural painting activity designed to offer a taste of the coastal city’s eclectic ViBe creative district.
“We’re so excited to be back in Montreal,” says Nancy Helman, Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau director. “The Canadian market is extremely important to Virginia Beach. We love our northern neighbours. Not only is Canada our top international market, representing an impressive 40% of visits to the region, it’s like welcoming friends.”
Helman said Canadian travellers are drawn to the region’s natural beauty, flourishing culinary and craft beer scene, rich history, and a variety of arts and entertainment attractions, not least in the city’s vibrant downtown arts district.
Consistently ranked among the best beach destinations, the US, Virginia Virigina Beach is within reach from key Canadian markets – 1,160 km from Montreal, 1,400 km from Quebec City, and 1,100 km, making for an easy road trip.
Spring-summer event highlights
- Historic Garden Week in Virginia showcases a collection of notable Virginia Beach North End neighbourhood homes and gardens (April 24) via a convenient trolley tour. The nation’s only statewide home and garden tour, it offers nearly 30 unique tours of private landscapes, public gardens, and historic sites during a weeklong celebration of spring.
- Jackalope Fest (June 14-16) features three days of high adrenaline sports like skateboarding, BASE jumping, bouldering, and beach volleyball.
- The world’s longest-running surf competition carves up the Virginia Beach coastline from 1st to 11th Streets during the 62nd Annual East Coast Surfing Championship (Aug. 18- 25). The eight-day, international surf carnival welcomes more than 850 surfers each year competing for titles, prizes, history, and the love of surfing.
Virginia Beach, one of Virginia’s most populous cities, resides where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean and features 50 km of sandy beaches.