Table of Contents
Visit Alexandria has expanded its "Unlock Your Story" destination marketing campaign to target meeting and event planners, the organization announced Thursday, adding a meetings strategy to the consumer campaign it unveiled in February.
The new effort targets planners for associations, corporations, educational organizations, and sports groups — as well as third-party planners — in nine key markets: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District. Visit Alexandria will reach them through targeted email outreach, lead generation, and paid search.
The expansion addresses a set of barriers the organization says has kept meeting business from fully materializing in the city: misconceptions about the size and scope of events Alexandria can accommodate, cost concerns, and what Visit Alexandria described as an underappreciated proximity to Washington.
"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," said Todd O'Leary, president and CEO of Visit Alexandria. "With Unlock Your Story, we're inviting travelers and meeting planners alike to connect with the people, places, and experiences that make Alexandria distinctive."
The meetings push builds on the same three-theme framework that anchors the consumer campaign — Historic, Not Static; Made Up of the Little Things; and A City of Independents — and will feature testimonials from planners who have booked events in the city.
Lisa Maiale-Howel, whose regional healthcare organization has held its annual meeting in Alexandria for more than 25 years, is among those featured. "As a meeting planner for the past almost 10 years, I cannot think of a place I'd rather be for our regional meetings than Alexandria," she said, citing King Street's walkability, lodging variety, and the city's restaurant and retail scene.
Visit Alexandria is also inviting member businesses and hospitality partners to participate by sharing their own stories for possible inclusion in campaign content. Planners can submit their experiences at UnlockYourStoryALX.com using the hashtag #UnlockYourStoryALX.
The current campaign flight runs through June 2026, timed to 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.
The "Unlock Your Story" campaign was developed with 62ABOVE, Visit Alexandria's agency of record, and succeeded the three-year "Best Kept Shh!" initiative. It launched as Alexandria crossed $1 billion in annual visitor spending for the first time and earned a top-five ranking among the best U.S. cities from Travel + Leisure in 2025.
Ryan Belmore
