The Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association has announced their plans for the upcoming holidays; a new strategy for making motor coach parking easier and needs Alexandrians to participate in an online survey to help determine just how the city will be marketed to tourists.
The holidays are just around the corner and we want to market all of Alexandria to tourists, not just specific events, said Stephanie Brown, ACVAs CEO. We want to invite people to enjoy Alexandria in its entirety.
The holiday theme, The Gift is Being Here, will be seen on brochures and ads from now until after New Years Day. Our marketing program will encourage people to visit www.HolidaysinAlexandria.com, which features coupons and packages that benefit visitors and locals alike and which demonstrate the warm welcome extended by the many Alexandria hotels, shops and restaurants participating in the program, Brown said.
In addition to downloadable coupons online, holiday coupon books for shopping and dining discounts will be available at the Ramsay House Visitors Center at 221 King Street and will be distributed to homes throughout the Greater Washington area.
Just in time for the holidays, ACVA is partnering with the George Washington Masonic National Memorial to offer off-street long-term parking in the Memorials 24-space motor coach parking lot. While the Memorial has offered 24-hour parking passes to motor coaches for some time, the partnership has been expanded to include daytime passes at a cost of $10 per coach.
This additional daytime service will help to ease the congestion that may occur in the heart of Old Town during peak tourist seasons. The program will be convenient for motor coaches to use and for the benefit of everyone, both visitors and residents alike, Brown said.
Finally, ACVA is in the third phase of research to help brand Alexandria. We conducted a survey of visitors and potential visitors to Alexandria and we have spoken with City leaders. Now we want to hear from the people who live here about how they view Alexandria. This will help us develop visual maps of these different opinions so that we can see how different people see Alexandria, Brown said.
