Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) has a track record of excellence in tourism marketing. The agency recently celebrated 40 years of the longstanding Virginia is for Lovers campaign. While they’ve maintained that well loved umbrella brand, they’ve also successfully continued and grown a host of niche marketing efforts, speaking to the specific tastes and demands of travelers.

A recent Twitter campaign used the social media tool to promote wine travel and won one of 12 U.S. Travel Association awards for top marketing initiatives in the country. Their Vintage Tweets reached more than 43,000 consumers in under 24 hours. Read  Governor McDonnell’s annoucement of the award here.

VTC puts a lot of energy into the marketing state’s growing wine industry, and with good reason. Virginia is now home to 160 wineries and 16 wine trails,  and it was recently named one of the top five up-and-coming wine destinations in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine. 

There’s bound to be a winery near you.  How does your downtown connect with it?  In Harrisonburg, Cave Ridge Vineyard has opened Wine on Water, a downtown tasting room. This year Woodstock, held its first wine festival and a local entrepreneur began a limosine company to transport visitors to the nearby wineries.  In Abingdon, the farmers’ market showcases wineries of the region.

October will be Virginia Wine Month. If you haven’t fully explored how you can tap the marketing muscle of Virginia wine and make it work for your downtown, now may be just the right time.