Virginia’s first lady is urging you to travel safely amid the pandemic.
Pamela Northam spoke in support of the state’s tourism industry at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria.
“Right now is a great time to get families outdoors,” she said, suggesting activities, such as walking tours of cities like Alexandria. “It’s always safety first, but the data looks now predominantly like outdoor spaces are the safest,” provided that masks and distancing are used, she said.
It comes as Virginia, like all states, deals with the impact of the pandemic.
“The projected (tourism) loss for 2020 is $12.6 billion statewide,” said Rita McClenny, CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, “which is a 47% drop compared to 2019.”
Under that scenario, 79,000 jobs supported by tourism spending would be lost.
Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday also announced numerous grants to organizations that support tourism, in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford and Fauquier counties.
Organizations in the Town of Culpeper and City of Fredericksburg also received grants.
- Sign up for WTOP alerts
- Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Coronavirus FAQ: What you need to know
- Coronavirus resources: Get and give help in DC, Maryland and Virginia
- Montgomery County officials call for ‘national strategy’ on pandemic
- Mayor Bowser issues new mask order for DC
- Montgomery County school superintendent on virtual learning plans for fall
- Virus infection rate could be up to 13 times higher than thought
Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
