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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alan Fogg, Director of Communications
703-790-0600 or afogg@fceda.org
Fairfax County Visitors Center lures record number of travelers
Half referred to local businesses and attractions
Fairfax County, Virginia, January 5, 2000 — A record 55,376 travelers stopped at the Fairfax County Visitors Center in 1999, the Fairfax County Convention and Visitors Bureau reported. The number broke the 1998 record of 55,183 travelers and residents who visited the center off Interstate 95 in Lorton, Virginia.
Visitors Center counselors referred half of the travelers to Fairfax County business establishments and tourist attractions: 13,599 to retail outlets; 9,162 to tourist attractions; 2,752 to restaurants and 2,230 to hotels. The Visitors Center hosted the most travelers in July (7,485), August (6,681), June 5,770) and May (5,043), according to center records.
Tourism in Virginia is a $10 billion industry. Tourism in Fairfax County — an estimated $1.3 billion industry — is an important sector of the county’s economy.
"Fairfax County has a wealth of opportunities for business and leisure travelers and its citizens. Small businesses and tourist attractions benefit greatly from the referrals from the Visitors Center," said Gerald L. Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). The Convention and Visitors Bureau, a division of the FCEDA, operates the center.
The center is located at the Comfort Inn at 8180 Silverbrook Road, just off I-95 exit 163. It is close to historic Richmond Highway corridor attractions such as the George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, George Mason’s Gunston Hall, Woodlawn Plantation and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House.
Visitors Center counselors help travelers find the services they need and the attractions they want to visit. The center is stocked with brochures on scores of tourist attractions in the county and throughout Virginia. It is open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The phone number is 703-550-2450.
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