Visit Alexandria unveils 'Unlock Your Story' marketing campaign at annual industry event
The new effort, revealed Thursday morning at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, aims to broaden perceptions of the city beyond its historic reputation
Visit Alexandria unveiled a new destination marketing campaign Thursday morning before an audience of tourism and hospitality industry partners, inviting travelers to explore the city’s neighborhoods, small businesses, and cultural offerings through a platform called Unlock Your Story.
The announcement came during the organization’s What’s New in 2026 event at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, an annual gathering where Visit Alexandria shares developments, trends, and insights shaping the city’s visitor economy.
The campaign, developed with the organization's agency of record, 62ABOVE, marks a shift from the organization’s three-year Best Kept Shh! initiative, which positioned Alexandria as an emerging hidden gem. Visit Alexandria president and CEO Todd O’Leary said the city has outgrown that framing.
“The secret is out,” O’Leary said. “Now is the time to place Alexandria squarely in the spotlight and invite visitors to discover more of our destination and create their own stories here.”
The new effort comes as Alexandria reached a milestone of more than $1 billion in annual visitor spending and earned a top-five ranking among the best U.S. cities from Travel + Leisure in 2025. Despite that recognition, Visit Alexandria identified a persistent challenge: visitors tend to associate the city primarily with Old Town and its colonial history, limiting how long they stay and how much of the city they experience.
Unlock Your Story addresses that gap by centering its messaging on three themes — Historic, Not Static; Made Up of the Little Things; and A City of Independents — each designed to highlight a more contemporary and diverse Alexandria that extends beyond its 18th-century streets.
The campaign highlights local entrepreneurs, artists, chefs, and boutique owners as storytellers in their own right. Visitors are encouraged to share their experiences on social media using the hashtag #UnlockYourStoryALX and through a submission form on the campaign’s landing page at UnlockYourStoryALX.com. A giveaway offering a chance to win an Alexandria vacation package valued at more than $1,000 is also part of the launch.
The campaign runs through June 2026 and is timed to align with cherry blossom season, the nation’s 250th anniversary commemoration, and the FIFA World Cup 2026, for which Alexandria is serving as the official team base camp for Croatia’s national football team. An extension targeting meeting and event planners is expected to roll out later this spring.