From the staff at Visit Fairfax, we would like to wish our tourism industry partners happy holidays. May peace, prosperity and happiness be yours throughout the holidays and New Year.

• In October, Visit Fairfax traveled to Richmond, VA for the 11th consecutive year to exhibit at the Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE) Fall Educational Symposium & Expo. Representatives from ten Fairfax County meeting hotels joined Visit Fairfax in the booth, which was themed to the Presidential election. (see photo)
• In November, Visit Fairfax met face-to-face with 13 military reunion planners at the Your Military Reunion Connection (YMRC) event in Newport News, VA, to generate additional military reunion bookings.
• This month, Visit Fairfax will be in Washington, DC for a new meeting planner event, Connect DC. Visit Fairfax will be one of the featured sponsors of this show, and will meet one-on-one with association and corporate meeting planners.
• Also in December, Visit Fairfax will attend the VSAE Holiday luncheon in Richmond, VA, in search of additional state association business.
• And in February, Visit Fairfax will host the 9th Annual Visit Fairfax Family Reunion Workshop at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park hotel, promoting Fairfax County as the ideal spot for family reunion groups to get together. Visit Fairfax will be joined by more than 20 Fairfax County hotels, attractions, and service providers for this exciting annual event. Learn about the Workshop here. (see photo)

• Visit Fairfax will attend the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (National Capital Area Chapter) Silent Auction/Holiday Cocktail Party on December 15, 2016.  Eric Kulczycky is on the Special Events Committee of the organization, so please email him at ekulczycky@fxva.com if you would like to donate an auction item. 
• In October, Visit Fairfax sponsored the "1st Annual Tee Off to Successful Partnerships" golf tournament hosted by SGMP NATCAP and HSMAI DC Chapter. A special thank you goes out to Holly Williamson ( Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center ) and Nayka Mendoza ( Homewood Suites Washington/Dulles ) for donating raffle items for this fundraising event.

• In October, Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) organized a familiarization tour for Canadian tour operator Porter Escapes, so that they could better sell Porter Airlines' direct flight from Toronto to Washington Dulles International Airport. Fairfax County was a quick stop on their trip but provided a wonderful introduction to the area for them.
• Visit Fairfax participated in a Peruvian familiarization tour organized by Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium (NVVC), which took place in mid-November. This tour was in conjunction with Latam Airlines to help boost tourism from Peru to DC through its direct flight from Lima to Washington Dulles International Airport. Many thanks to all the partners who assisted with this FAM. (see photo)
• United Airlines and Marriott International teamed up to bring a familiarization tour to the Capital Region this past November, in which Visit Fairfax was included. We hosted seven top German tour operators, showing them attractions and activity options within Fairfax County to add onto future tours to the Washington, DC area. This is a lucrative market for this region, as last year saw 179,000 German visitors visit. Thank you to all the partners who assisted with this FAM. (see photo)
• Travel South International took place this year in Atlanta, GA from November 28-30. This appointment-based show allowed Visit Fairfax to get in front of international tour operators who want to go more in-depth with their U.S. itineraries and get a better understanding of the Southern United States. We partnered with George Washington's Mount Vernon and Loudoun County to show off some of the best of Northern Virginia for the creation of new tour product. Please reach out to mmcclure@fxva.com for lead notes from this tradeshow.
• Visit Fairfax will be attending American Bus Association's Annual Marketplace this year in Cleveland, OH from January 14-18, 2017. If you plan on attending, please consider joining Melissa McClure for the Virginia Caucus on Sunday, January 14 in room #6. We will have a sales appointment review from 5:45pm - 6:45pm. All Virginia attendees are welcome.
• Special shout out to restaurateurs: If your Fairfax County restaurant is looking for more group business, we would love to meet with you. Please email mmcclure@fxva.com so that we can talk about future partnerships.

• On behalf of Visit Fairfax, Eric Kulczycky attended the Fairfax County Athletic Council's November meeting. The new chair of the Athletic Council is Rob Hahne, who has also served as President of the Fairfax County Baseball Council for 15 years. Visit Fairfax is providing support services to Rob and others involved in efforts to build a 6-field, turfed baseball complex adjacent to Willow Springs Elementary School in Fairfax. The complex will feature four 90-foot diamonds and two 60-foot diamonds.
• Eric participated in the National Association of Sports Commissions' webinar, "Doing Your Homework: Evaluating Events Before You Bid or Sponsor." The featured presenter was Gina Mintzer, Director of Sales at the Albany County (NY) Convention & Visitors Bureau, who discussed best bid and sponsorship practices that destinations can implement to capture more of the growing sports travel market.
• Visit Fairfax met with the Fairfax County Park Authority to discuss soccer and pickleball tournament opportunities. SoccerFest, an event managed by Brotman-Winter-Fried Communications, will be moving from Loudoun to Fairfax County in summer 2017.

• We held the Visit Fairfax Fall Ambassador tour in early November. Attendees visited Fairfax County spots like Paradise Springs Winery (see photo), Fairfax Corner, Workhouse Arts Center and George Mason University Center for the Arts.
• Attention hotels and other stakeholders: Be sure to send us your rack cards, brochures, and other material that you want featured in the official Fairfax County Visitors Center. The Center is located inside Tysons Corner Center, on the 2nd level near Nordstrom. Questions? Contact Sue Porter at SPorter@fxva.com.

• ConventionSouth magazine named Fairfax County as one of the top three coolest summer meeting destinations in the South.
• The October issue of MeetingsToday magazine prominently featured Fairfax County and four of our recently renovated meeting hotels in a major article on meetings in Virginia.
• The September issue of Reunions magazine contained a special 16-page guide to holding family and military reunions in Virginia; Fairfax County and Visit Fairfax were prominently mentioned.
• Visit Fairfax's President & CEO, Barry Biggar, was featured in Smart Meetings Magazine's CVB Selfie Contest, highlighting hidden gems that illuminate destinations. Barry's selfie was taken at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens' wondrous Korean Bell Garden. (see photo)
• Visit Fairfax continues to see incredible growth on our social media accounts. Please help us continue to grow by tagging us (@VisitFairfax) on your own accounts and by using our hashtag, #FXVA.

• Big congratulations go out to Visit Fairfax's own Director of Marketing, Patrick Lennon, and his wife Sarah, on the arrival of their first child this past October – a beautiful and healthy son.
• Networking with colleagues and learning about new trends and ideas in the digital marketing world and tourism industry at eTourism Summit in San Francisco, CA
• Representing Fairfax County at the annual VA-1: Virginia Governor's Conference in Roanoke, VA
• Meeting the regional sales team that represent several Applebee's locations in Northern Virginia
• Grabbing lunch with our web partners at Simpleview while they were visiting from Tucson, AZ
• Talking shop with the new marketing manager and brewer at Forge Brew Works to learn about their new brew system and some exciting upcoming projects
• Celebrating 60 years with the fabulous team at Karin's Florist during their annual Open House
• Meeting with the new marketing director at Clifton-based Adventure Links, and learning about some exciting new projects they are working on
• Welcoming the newest (and quite spectacular) light show - the Chinese Lantern Festival - to Fairfax County, which takes place at Roer's Zoofari from now through Jan. 1

• Phi Rho Pi National Tournament – 2100 room nights
• Cadillac & LaSalle Club, Inc. Grand National – 1670 room nights
• USS Forrestal (CVA/AVT-59) Association Reunion – 705 room nights
• Paintball Extravaganza International – 607 room nights
• Living Proof Live – 364 room nights
• The Society of the 39th Engineer Battalion Reunion – 200 room nights
• National African American Mission Conference (NAAMC) – 180 room nights
• Old Dominion Rottweiler Club Bart Bellon Seminar – 145 room nights

This is good news for the local beer industry, as it has sparked conversation within the County government about possible zoning changes when it comes to opening breweries in the County. The possible zoning changes would allow these manufacturers to make up to 15,000 barrels of beer, 36,000 gallons of spirits or 5,000 gallons of wine, cider or mead per year.

Read the full story. Learn more about Caboose Brewing Co.'s Vienna location.

• Occupancy: 75.2%
• Room Night Leads: 31,965
• Website Unique Visitors: 232,501

• Fairfax County is one of the top contributors of expenditures to Virginia's tourism industry.
• Visitors to Fairfax County contributed over 2.93 billion dollars to the local economy in 2015.
• Fairfax County's tourism industry creates almost 30,000 jobs within the County.
• On average, visitors to our website clicked on and viewed individual stakeholder listings approximately 40,000 times per month. Ask us how to maximize your property's results.