The power of place

When Katherine O’Donnell first moved to Richmond, Virginia for college, she had no idea how swiftly and securely she would become enamored with the area. Summers passed, an internship at the art museum followed, graduation loomed and she realized she had no desire to leave her new home.

As an English and Journalism major, O’Donnell wasn’t sure yet of the career path she would embark on, but certainly hadn’t imagined it would take the direction it soon did.

“There was an opening at Richmond Region Tourism for publications coordinator, so I started out making maps and visitors guides,” she tells The CEO Magazine.

“I didn’t even know tourism was a career, to be honest. I’d sort of just fallen into it. But once I got into it, I fell in love with Richmond even more, because our whole role is to show the community off to other people and help them experience it firsthand – that’s my favorite part of our job.”

Force for good

Today, as CEO of Richmond Region Tourism – a position she has held since 2024 – O’Donnell leads one of the United States’ most progressive destination organizations, overseeing a region that blends history, culture, outdoor adventure and innovation.

“I think anybody who’s worked in tourism understands the positive impact that it has on our community,” she says.

“It’s an economic generator. It creates 30,000 jobs in the Richmond region; hotels, museums, attractions, all these places that make the quality of life in our community so wonderful rely heavily on tourism.”

And yet, the immense economic impact is only one facet of Richmond Region Tourism’s strategy. The organization’s philosophy of ‘tourism as a force for good’ influences every aspect of their model. Rather than simply pursuing visitor numbers, the team prioritizes events that resonate with local communities, support cultural institutions and leave a lasting legacy for residents.

“We’re also recruiting events that have significance to the people who live here, whether that’s something like a Galaxy Con, which is our largest event with tens of thousands of people attending, or the National Ceramics Convention that we recruited a couple years ago in partnership with the Virginia Commonwealth University and a lot of the galleries,” O’Donnell explains.

“To this day, that’s one of the conventions that a lot of the arts community really hold up as something that’s mattered to them. One thing that we never want to take lightly is that as the tourism marketing organization for our community, we’re the brand stewards and the storytellers. And the Richmond region in particular has a difficult and challenging past.”

Instead of deflecting and avoiding that history, Richmond Region Tourism works closely with local communities to present a more balanced and authentic picture of the region. Community-led initiatives including BLK RVA and OutRVA celebrate Richmond’s African-American and LGBTQI+ communities, ensuring that visitors and locals alike experience a region that is welcoming, inclusive and representative of all the people who call it home.

A collaborative approach

Representing seven jurisdictions, Richmond Region Tourism spans the City of Richmond, the counties of Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover and New Kent, the town of Ashland and the city of Colonial Heights. But rather than competing for visitors or being pitted against one another, these communities work collectively to promote the entire area.

“I’ve always believed that leadership is about bringing people together around a common purpose,” O’Donnell enthuses. “In the Richmond Region, that means working alongside leaders across tourism, hospitality, sports, economic development and local government who recognize that our collective success is interconnected.”

She believes that regional collaboration – at the same time as calling out the unique characters of the localities – has become one of Richmond Region Tourism’s defining competitive advantages.

“We’ve seen tremendous momentum in recent years,” she  says. “This positive energy is supported by long-standing regional partners like the Greater Richmond Convention Center and strengthened by the emergence of tourism-focused organizations including the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, Experience Chesterfield and Visit Hanover County VA, which are helping showcase the unique character of their communities and expand the region’s visitor economy.

“While each locality has its own identity and strengths, our collaboration creates opportunities that none of us could achieve alone.”

Visitors can engage with nationally significant American history alongside a thriving culinary scene, internationally recognized museums, outdoor recreation centered around the only Class IV rapids running through a major US city and an ever-expanding calendar of sporting, cultural and entertainment events.

The wide range of vastly different experiences enables the region to appeal to a huge, diverse demographic of travelers while distributing the benefits of tourism across multiple communities.

Richmond Region Tourism recently launched its first formal strategic plan, informed by major consultations with stakeholders, residents and industry partners. Supported by a Destination NEXT assessment, the strategy looks to continue improving on key focus areas such as boosting community alignment, growing destination assets and maximizing visitation through an integrated approach looking from sales and marketing to visitor experience.

Innovation is also an essential component of the plan, utilizing AI to target behavioral patterns and inform advertising, resulting in a smarter, more tailored offering. Now, after 24 years with Richmond Region Tourism, O’Donnell admits that her passion for the area and the organization itself hasn’t waned but increased.

“What’s been so great about having been in this job for so long is to see the progress – it feels like every year there’s something new and exciting happening,” she says with a smile.

“The team is everything. They all work very hard and care very deeply about the Richmond region, the community and tourism.”