Reimagining Destination Success: Inside Visit Loudoun’s Data-Driven Approach to Shaping Tomorrow’s KPIs

Visit Loudoun, the destination marketing organization for Loudoun County, VA, has recently launched Elevate Loudoun, a bold, three-year strategic plan developed by Clarity of Place that charts a course through 2028, designed to enhance and expand the county’s visitor economy and build on the success of Loudoun’s DC’s Wine Country brand.  This data-driven plan captures Loudoun’s unique landscape, which includes Dulles International Airport in the east and breathtaking rolling landscape out west, where agritourism thrives.

Elevate Loudoun recognizes the need to balance growth in tourism while also honoring the destination’s diverse character, helping to safeguard long-term quality for both residents and visitors alike. 

The strategic framework of Elevate Loudoun focuses on driving economic impact, strengthening local businesses, and embracing the qualities that make tourism valuable to every community. Developed from feedback by 900 survey respondents and more than 80 stakeholders, the plan draws on insights from a product inventory review, historical data analysis, and consumer research.  

"This strategy is fundamentally about ensuring tourism continues to serve as a force for good in our community,” Visit Loudoun President and CEO Beth Erickson said. “We understand the value our agritourism, wineries, and equestrian partners provide—they're not just attractions, but a “fragile shield” to sustain and protect our rural character. By extending our successful DC's Wine Country® brand to highlight our diverse experiences, we're positioning Loudoun to compete as a first-choice destination while staying true to our roots as vibrant, innovative communities, which also celebrate our agrarian heritage and open spaces." 

Within the plan, there are five strategic imperatives, each supported by actionable and measurable goals that are responsive to evolving tourism trends. These include building upon Loudoun’s brand promise, targeted efforts to inspire overnight visitation, maintaining a thriving visitor economy throughout the community, supporting long-term placemaking and community engagement, and providing operational excellence in all aspects to ensure destination vitality. 

Evolving key performance metrics are embedded across the five strategic imperatives, reflecting a shift from a purely quantitative heads-in-beds framework toward a more multidimensional measure of impact. In addition to traditional economic indicators such as visitor numbers and spending, the plan introduces evolving KPIs that emphasize community engagement and quality of place. These include involving residents in tourism development, advancing inclusivity and diversity to ensure tourism benefits are equitably shared across Loudoun, updating standard operating procedures, and strengthening destination readiness and sustainability through measurable outcomes and improved business preparedness.   

Community Engagement & Quality of Place

The entire tourism industry helped guide this plan through focus group sessions, one-on-one interviews, and group surveys. The sessions included representatives from wineries, restaurants, lodging providers (hotels and B&Bs), attractions, agriculture, certified tourism ambassadors, community leaders, elected officials, and residents. Across the engagement process, stakeholder groups focused on the overall shared vision for Loudoun’s future; one that carefully balances growth while maintaining commitment to community and Loudoun’s unique character. 

Each focus group voiced strong enthusiasm for continued growth in Loudoun while maintaining its rural charm and small-town spirit. For example, the certified tourism ambassadors emphasized the need for more diverse, interest-based itineraries and better tools to help residents and visitors fully experience all that Loudoun has to offer. To address Loudoun’s current challenges, the focus groups emphasized the need for thoughtful, balanced growth supported by coordinated investments in transportation, zoning, and housing, ensuring the region retains its unique appeal.

These engagement opportunities provided a pathway to future-proof tourism by diversifying offerings, strengthening local partnerships, and staying true to the destination’s unique character. The following word cloud visually captures recurring themes mentioned about Loudoun, such as its wineries and breweries, historic sites, lodging gaps, and transportation access, providing an at-a-glance view of key priorities and insights from stakeholder feedback. 

Destination Readiness & Sustainability

Throughout its three-year strategic plan, Visit Loudoun has woven in destination readiness and preparedness as it is essential to ensuring the community can not only meet the expectations of visitors, but also protect and enhance the quality of life for residents. By investing in sustainability, infrastructure, agritourism, and product development, Loudoun can preserve its natural assets and strengthen its visitor economy to remain competitive and resilient. For example, to ensure destination readiness among businesses in Loudoun County, Imperative Three of the plan emphasizes maintaining a thriving visitor economy. This includes equipping businesses to be visitor-ready by providing the tools, training, and data-driven research needed to deliver a seamless and high-quality experience.  

Regarding sustainability indicators, the plan emphasizes balancing growth with the preservation of the rural economy, highlighting how agritourism can promote sustainable land use and protect open space. Part of the plan’s narrative is to increase visitors' exposure to agritourism opportunities such as farm tours and equestrian activities that tie tourism directly back to land conservation and sustainability.

The fourth strategic imperative, Supporting Long-Term Placemaking and Community Engagement, embodies the principle of destination stewardship by ensuring that tourism aligns with community values and enhances Loudoun’s quality of place through public art, storytelling, and advocacy for investments in parks and cultural centers. 

Summary

Elevate Loudoun is a bold strategic plan that recognizes the need to balance growth with destination stewardship principles infused throughout, honoring Loudoun’s unique character, robust rural economy, and small-town charm. While visitor spending, repeat visitation, and lodging metrics remain important, this plan charts a new course for measuring destination success. Quality of life and sustainability indicators align with the plan’s imperatives of emphasizing inclusivity, authenticity, and sustainability, ensuring that growth benefits both residents and visitors alike.