Charlottesville expects to bring in about 3.4 percent of its FY2026 budget from a tax levied on hotel guests. That amounts to $9.1 million and a portion goes to a regional tourism agency to help attract more people to the area.
“We are the official welcoming committee for the city and the county,” said Courtney Cacatian, the executive director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau. “So we take our job in welcoming very, very seriously.”
In a briefing to Charlottesville City Council on August 18, Cacatian said in 2023 the tourism industry generated $956 million in economic activity for Albemarle and Charlottesville bringing in $47.1 million in local taxes. The operations of CACVB are funded through occupancy taxes from both communities. (download the presentation)
“It’s important to us that we are transparent in our governance,” Cacatian said. “We know that we are spending taxpayer dollars and we need to make sure that we are accountable for those funds.”
Last year, the CACVB adopted a tourism master plan with five goals including “Foster a Welcoming Community” and “Enhance Local Quality of Life.” One of the outcomes has been to enter into a rebranding initiative.
“This summer we held seven different community workshops where we listened to the community to see what stories they want to tell and what they want the visitors to know when they come here,” Cacatian said.
(One of the slides in the presentation on the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau given to Charlottesville City Council on August 18, 2025. Download the whole thing here. (Credit: CACVB)
The initial feedback will be presented at the CACVB’s Board meeting on Monday, August 25 and the process will wrap up in November.
One initiative under the “Strengthen Community Partnerships” will be to try to connect restaurants and other food and beverage establishments to tourism.
“A couple years ago, with the wine recognition, the winery started to see us as more of a tourism partner,” Cacatian said. “And that’s been something that’s been able to grow. And we really want to bring the restaurants, food trucks and all the other food vendors into that conversation, too.”
City Councilor Natalie Oschrin noted that Amtrak has several trains a day that come through Charlottesville’s Union Station on West Main Street.
“Do we know if we get tourism from train travel versus just students coming back for school?” Oschrin asked.
Cacatian said she didn’t have any good data, but said CACVB has been trying to build a relationship with Amtrak and have sought to bring influencers to the community via train.
“Amtrak is a huge selling point, especially to the European market,” Cacatian said. “So when I would talk to European tour operators, they would say, oh, we can just go there from D.C. and just be in Charlottesville, and we can just roll our bag right to a hotel and just get around.”
Cacatian said they are working with Amtrak to improve the inside of the station and to encourage a better presence for Charlottesville on the rail agency’s website.
“Amtrak occupies the former Railway Express Agency building constructed in the 1890s,” reads the Charlottesville page. “Both the University of Virginia campus and the bustling downtown are within easy walking distance.”
In 2021, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation hired the firm Michael Baker International to study potential upgrades to the station. Here’s that study. An update to that story would be most welcome.
For recent stories on the CACVB, look below:
- Charlottesville City Council gets briefing on how tourism bureau works, May 11, 2024
- Visitors spent nearly $1 billion in Albemarle and Charlottesville in 2023, September 17, 2024
- Tourism bureau seeking input on future of the regional brand, June 10, 2025
- Tourism bureau launches new podcast to honor country’s 250th birthday, June 26, 2025
Before you go: This story was first posted in the August 21, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement and then posted here the next day. To learn more how to support this work, click this link.
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