Business & Tech

Alexandria Slips One Spot in Annual Meetings Destination List

National Harbor makes list for first time.

Alexandria slipped one spot in an annual list of meeting destinations, published by events firm Cvent Inc., headquartered in McLean.

The City of Alexandria came in 40th in the nation last year and is ranked 41st this year, according to Cvent Inc.

Alexandria, through the Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association, gets the word out about the city as a meetings destination, including maintaining a Web site about its attributes.

Orlando, Fla., was ranked #1 on this year's list. Arlington is ranked #34, slipping eight spots, compared to its rank on last year's list. Washington, D.C. was ranked #7 on the list this year, falling five spots since last year. National Harbor was ranked for the first time this year, coming in #26. Last year, it was lumped in with Washington, D.C.

Alexandria and National Harbor share some business, with visitors zipping across the Potomac River between the two destinations, in water taxis.

Last fall, the Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association announced an 8.1 percent increase in visitor spending in 2011 to total $711 million, generating city tax revenue of $23.1 million. Visitors to the city support more than 6,000 jobs with a payroll of $118 million.

In five years, visitor spending has increased 22 percent in Alexandria, outpacing increases for Virginia and Northern Virginia, both at 9 percent.




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