Friends of Southwest Virginia launches regional tourism research initiative (copy) (copy) (copy)
Friends of Southwest Virginia has selected Datafy and Future Partners to lead a new regional market research initiative that will provide deeper insights into visitor behavior, travel patterns, and traveler sentiment across Southwest Virginia’s 19 counties and four independent cities.
Datafy and Future Partners were selected through a competitive procurement process. A regional RFP selection committee evaluated proposals and recommended the firms based on their experience in tourism analytics, destination research, and strategic insights for travel and tourism organizations.
The initiative will give regional tourism partners new data to better understand who is visiting Southwest Virginia, where visitors are coming from, how they travel throughout the region, and how they perceive their experience.
For the first time, Southwest Virginia will have access to real-time, location-based tourism intelligence that can help communities identify opportunities for growth, strengthen marketing strategies, and enhance visitor experiences.
The research builds on more than a decade of regional collaboration and strategic marketing that has helped position Southwest Virginia as a destination for outdoor recreation, music, arts, and cultural heritage.
“This initiative marks an important step forward for tourism across Southwest Virginia,” said Kim Davis, executive director of Friends of Southwest Virginia. “For the first time, we will have a comprehensive view of how visitors move throughout our region, what experiences resonate most, and where new opportunities exist for growth. These insights will help us and our partners make more strategic decisions about marketing, product development, and visitor experiences that strengthen local economies across Southwest Virginia.”
The project will analyze visitor movement patterns across the region, including travel routes, length of stay, key origin markets, and trip purpose. It will also examine traveler sentiment and perceptions of Southwest Virginia as a destination.
Datafy will lead the data and technology applications to this project. Using privacy-compliant data sources, the company will evaluate visitation flows, traveler demographics, and behavioral patterns while also helping assess the correlation of digital marketing efforts to real-world outcomes.
“Southwest Virginia has built an incredible tourism story around its outdoor assets, music heritage, and authentic cultural experiences,” said Lauren Rogers, chief revenue officer of Datafy. “Through this partnership, we’re excited to provide the region with a new level of visibility into how visitors explore the area, what inspires them to travel here, and how communities can work together to grow tourism in a thoughtful, data-driven way. Our goal is to equip regional leaders with the insights they need to make confident decisions that strengthen local economies and enhance the visitor experience across Southwest Virginia.”
Future Partners, a nationally recognized travel research firm, will provide traveler sentiment analysis and industry insights to better understand visitor motivations and emerging travel trends.
“We’re honored to partner with Friends of Southwest Virginia on this initiative to deepen the region’s understanding of its visitors," said Erin Francis Cummings, President & CEO of Future Partners "Through custom-designed insights and advanced tourism analytics, we’re excited to help uncover new opportunities to grow market share and strengthen the region’s tourism economy.”
The initiative will produce interactive dashboards, regional reports, and presentations designed to help tourism partners apply the insights in their own communities. In addition to regional findings, individual tourism reports will be developed for each of Southwest Virginia’s counties and cities to support local tourism planning and marketing strategies.
Additional details on how regional tourism partners can access and use the data will be shared with destination marketing organizations and stakeholders in the coming weeks.
