Some organizations in our area are on the right track towards building a better economic future.

From Covington to Lynchburg to Roanoke, this region is rich in railroad history; now it's official. Virginia's General Assembly has designated this area Virginia's Rail Heritage Region. The idea is to attract more tourists by promoting multiple attractions.

"Then they spend money on hotels and motels, they eat and they also shop, so that becomes a major economic boost for the region," explains Bev Fitzpatrick with the Virginia Musuem of Transportation.

Today's announcement was made at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, one of six museums and societies that teamed up on the effort. They are:
C&O Heritage Center
O. Winston Link Museum
National Railway Historical Society, Blue Ridge Chapter
National Railway Historical Society, Roanoke Chapter
Norfolk & Western Historical Society
Virginia Museum of Transportation

Six rail-related museums and historical societies in western Virginia's Rail Heritage Region. The designation formalizes the group's ongoing cooperative relationships with the goal of attracting more tourists - and more tourist spending - to the region.

The primary goal of the partnership is joint promotion of the region's significant rail heritage tourism assets: multiple museums, active rail lines, historic sites, and the activities of the historical societies. By promoting multiple attractions, the partners expect visitors to stay more nights in the region - and spend more while here.

According to research by the Virginia Tourism Corporation, visitors to museums in Virginia spend 4.5 nights in Virginia, compared to an average of 3.2 nights by non-museum visitors. Museum visitors also spend more in Virginia: traveling parties that visit museums spend an average of $968, more than double the $449 spent by traveling parties that do not include a museum visit. On the national level, according to research conducted by the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Commerce, fully 40% of all leisure travelers in the U.S. actively engage in cultural and heritage travel, and 24% of U.S. leisure travelers (36 million adults) plan to take a cultural/heritage trip within the next 12 months.