Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center Wins Top Honors
Civil War Orientation Center a Key Element
For immediate release—May 6, 2009
Contacts: Natalie Wills/Winchester-Frederick County CVB: 540-542-1326
Terence Heder/SVBF: 540-740-4545 x206
WINCHESTER, Va.—Almost a year after its grand opening, the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center and Civil War Orientation Center received top honors at the 2009 Virginia Tourism Summit, held last month at Wintergreen Resort. The 2009 Virgo Travel and Tourism Award for “Best Visitor Center of the Year” was presented to the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which manages the center.
The visitor center, which opened in May 2008, was a collaborative effort of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, Shenandoah University, the city of Winchester, and Frederick County. In addition to serving as a resource for travelers to the area, the building also houses the regional Orientation Center for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District and Shenandoah University’s History and Tourism Center.
“The university is proud to partner with the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Battlefields Foundation,” said Mitchell L. Moore, Shenandoah University’s Vice President for Advancement. “The center is clearly a great example of different groups coming together in a way that best serves visitors to our community.”
Visitor Center’s Success a Result of Quality and Service
The award was based upon judging criteria that included community impact, the quality of the design of the visitor center, creativity in development and implementation of the center, and effective use of resources and budget. The judging panel was composed of tourism officials from North Carolina.
The visitor center, operated by the Convention & Visitors Bureau, serves to welcome visitors to the area and help them learn about the variety of attractions, lodgings, and dining experiences available in Winchester and Frederick County. The facility features a media room and an orientation film.
The center’s new location and displays are already paying off, with visitation up 35% in 2008 from 2007. Of the 16,000 new visitors in 2008, more than 5,000 were local residents and community business leaders.
Natalie Wills, Executive Director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, welcomed the award as an acknowledgement of the hard work of the center’s partners and staff. “It is a thrill to receive this award,” Wills said. “Our customer service and beautiful new center, as well as our partnerships, were the key ingredients to our win. The visitor center staff works very hard; they have an enormous amount of information to know yet they always serve the visitors with a smile.”
Key Element: Civil War Orientation Center for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District
The Civil War Orientation Center is the second of five planned throughout the eight-county Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District. The first opened in May 2005 at McDowell in Highland County. The Winchester orientation center features a large map of the Shenandoah Valley showing the sites of the region’s major battles as well as information regarding Winchester-Frederick’s Civil War sites and stories. The orientation center also offers a video presentation about the drama and importance of the Valley’s overall Civil War history. An interactive kiosk gives visitors the ability to tailor their visit to Civil War sites that meet their specific interests.
“This is such wonderful recognition of the efforts of our partners,” said Elizabeth Paradis Stern, the Battlefields Foundation’s Assistant Director. Stern coordinated the development of the Civil War Orientation Center. “The development of the orientation center was a partnership process, as is the case with everything we do,” she continued. “From the location to the interpretive content in the displays, all aspects were determined by local stakeholders.”
Center Partners Look To Sesquicentennial
The award comes as the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Battlefields Foundation, and attractions throughout the region are preparing for the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. The commemoration of the war’s 150th anniversary will take place from 2011 to 2015.
Terry Heder, the Foundation’s Program Manager for Field Services has been coordinating regional Sesquicentennial planning and commented on the importance of the center for these activities. “While the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war may be a couple years away, preview events are already being planned for this year and the Civil War Orientation Center will draw visitors and serve as a hub for information about Sesquicentennial sites and activities,” he said. “This center and the others around the District put the region well ahead of other areas of the state and the nation in terms of our preparations for this nationwide commemoration.”
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The Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau was formed in 2001 as the official destination marketing organization for the Winchester-Frederick County area. The CVB promotes tourism-related service providers, organizations, attractions, museums, and points of interest throughout the region to benefit the City of Winchester and Frederick County directly and indirectly. The organization is jointly funded by lodging taxes collected by the city and the county and is managed by the Winchester-Frederick County Tourism Board.
As authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the non-profit manager of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, partnering with local, regional, and national organizations and governments to preserve the Valley’s battlefields and interpret and promote the region’s Civil War story.
Created by Congress in 1996, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District encompasses Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties in Virginia and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester. The legislation authorizes federal funding for the protection of ten battlefields in the District: Second Winchester, Third Winchester, Second Kernstown, Cedar Creek, Fisher’s Hill, Tom’s Brook, New Market, Cross Keys, Port Republic, and McDowell.
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ON THE WEB:
Winchester-Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau:
www.VisitWinchesterVa.com
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation and
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District:
www.ShenandoahAtWar.org
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