Virginia’s Blue Ridge

Six Memorable Travel Encounters in Roanoke, Virginia

Published October 25, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Mayor Bowers with his Spanish-speaking dog. Photo by Clark Norton

Most memorable travel moments revolve around people as well as sights and activities — often chance encounters on the road, sometimes fleeting, other times resulting in more long-lasting friendships.

Here are a few snapshots from my recent stay in and around Roanoke, Virginia, made possible by the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, which sponsored me and a number of other travel writers and photographers so that we could get an overview of the area, dubbed “Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”

In Roanoke, some of my encounters were pre-planned, others serendipitous.

My fellow writers and I were privileged to meet the mayor of the city, David Bowers, who greeted us on an overlook atop Mill Mountain, below the city’s iconic 100-foot-high illuminated star. (Read more about the star here.)

The mayor brought his “Spanish-speaking dog,” who, while not actually… Continue reading →

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Virginia’s Roanoke Valley: Smart Marketing, Lots to Offer

Published October 22, 2013 | By Clark Norton

Downtown Roanoke’s historic center is just the beginning of what the area has to offer visitors. Photo by Clark Norton

Last week I spent several days in and around Roanoke, Virginia, hosted by the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau. The bureau brought in 19 travel writers and photographers from around the U.S. and Canada to discover what the area had to offer and, ideally, to write about it.

This is smart marketing. Publications large and small in states and provinces as diverse as California and Massachusetts, Colorado and Connecticut, Alberta and Ontario will carry travel articles about the Roanoke region that otherwise would never appear (most of the writers had never been there before). Some of the journalists were baby boomers, others were younger or older, so they’ll chronicle the destination from a variety of perspectives.

The press trip was organized by Geiger and Associates, a Tallahassee, Florida-based… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Cities, Marketing | Tagged baby boomer marketing strategies, baby boomer tours, baby boomer travel, baby boomer travel trends, baby boomer travelers, baby boomers, baby boomers and tourism, boomers, Geiger & Associates, marketing baby boomer travel, Roanoke, Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, selling travel to baby boomers, travel marketing, traveling baby boomers, Virginia's Blue Ridge | 4 Comments

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.