Ahoy Meeting Planners! Port of Call, Norfolk, Virginia. Donna Allen, Vice President of Sales, Norfolk Convention & Visitors Bureau standing on the "virtual" Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, a $36-million, 80,000-square-foot cruise facility which opened in spring 2007. This state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal,  offers more than 23,000 square feet of interior event space, including a 13,500-square-foot Half Moone Vista and the 1,100-square-foot Bermuda Room.

The two major destinations in Southeastern Virginia—Norfolk and Virginia Beach—co-hosted a media event for the conventions & meetings press in New York City today entitled "Invigorate Your Senses." The multi-media presentation provided what was a "virtual" tour of the many highlights of each destination, as well as the general Hampton Roads region.

Situated in the Southeastern corner of Virginia, the coastal cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk offer meeting attendees and travelers two distinct, yet complementary, vacation experiences—which appeal to all of the five senses—thus the Invigorate Your Senses tagline created by the two designations for their combined marketing and promotions efforts. Norfolk and Virginia Beach encompass an area that has been heralded as the region’s most celebrated for its one-of-a-kind cuisine, rich history, cultural offerings, national wildlife refuge, state parks and miles of sandy beaches. Less than a day’s drive from most East Coast destinations, Virginia Beach and Norfolk feature an array of indoor and outdoor activities for meeting attendees, many of which were highlighted at the Invigorate Your Senses event.

Perhaps the sense of taste is one that Norfolk and Virginia Beach CVB officials emphasized will be invigorated by their destinations. Both Virginia Beach and Norfolk are famous for their Coastal Cuisine, which includes the freshest seafood straight from the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay such as crab cakes, steamed shrimp and stuffed flounder (not to mention succulent oysters). Traditionally, Virginia Beach and Norfolk restaurants rely heavily on local farmers for produce and meat, offering visitors a unique home-grown culinary experience. Virginia Beach features nearly 300 restaurants, both beachside and inland, while Norfolk boasts more than 70 chef-owned restaurants, many located in the city’s most popular districts, in addition to charming tea rooms for lighter fare.

James B. Ricketts, Director, Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, welcoming the media attending the Invigorate Your Senses event, held in New York and co-hosted by Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

Norfolk meetings are greatly assisted by The Waterside Convention Connection (WCC), an alliance that provides more than 1,200 first-class rooms and suites, 55 meetings rooms and 216,000 square feet of convention space, all located in the heart of downtown Norfolk. The WCC is comprised of The Waterside Convention Center and the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, the Radisson Hotel Norfolk, Waterside Festival Marketplace and Norfolk Scope, an arena which is located just blocks away with an additional 85,000 square feet of meeting space. Norfolk also offers many unique meeting venues such as Attucks Theatre, The Chrysler Museum of Art; and Nauticus, a contemporary maritime museum.

Norfolk’s crescent-shaped marina, initially used as a during the mid-1700s, is now the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center, a $36-million, 80,000-square-foot cruise facility which opened in spring 2007. The center offers East Coast travelers the convenience and accessibility one would expect from a state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal. The Half Moone aids vacationers—particularly in the mid-Atlantic region—in traveling to exotic locations without having to fly or drive to an inconvenient ship terminal location.The Half Moone also serves as a premier venue for special events offering more than 23,000 square feet of interior event space, including a 13,500-square-foot Half Moone Vista, which displays facts about the original fort and a 1,100-square-foot Bermuda Room equipped with the latest audio/visual technology.

The 100-year-old Virginia Zoo is nestled on 53 acres along the Lafayette River and is home to more than 350 animals. Recent Virginia Zoo welcomed several new arrivals,including: Granby and Neka, two six-month old lion cubs; a one-year-old Red Panda, Prairie dog pups who can be seen tumbling around their exhibit and learning prairie dog social skills from their parents; new eastern grey kangaroos in their freshly renovated exhibit; a squirrel monkey named George and last but not least, a dromedary camel named Hercules. In addition, the Virginia Zoo offers a variety of unique indoor and outdoor spaces for meetings and events.

The jungle plant life was real although the zoo tour itself was virtual. Amid the ferns is Mary Garrett, Director of Marketing & Communications, Norfolk Convention & Visitors Bureau, who highlighted The Virginia Zoo, located on 53 acres along the Lafayette River, home to more than 350 animals as well as a diverse array of unique indoor and outdoor meeting/event space.

Some of the Virginia Beach highlights include the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, the state’s largest and one of the most-visited aquariums in the nation. It features more than 700,000 gallons of aquariums and live animal habitats, more than 300 hands-on exhibits and the IMAX® 3D Theater. The Cape Henry Lighthouse,  constructed in 1791, is the oldest government-built lighthouse in America and offers a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Located in Town Center, the breathtaking new Sandler Center for the Performing Arts is a 1,300-seat venue hosting regional and national artists in the arenas of dance, music and theater. With only 100 feet separating the front of the stage and the furthest seat in the house, the Sandler Center generates a European feel because of the audience’s proximity to the performers. The Center features flawless acoustics, a state-of-the-art sound system and a comfortable interior.

Of course, the centerpiece of Virginia Beach meetings is the Virginia Beach Convention Center, which features more than 500,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, five meeting suites totaling 28,929 square feet of meeting space, including the 972-square-foot VIP meeting room, a 150,012-square-foot column-free exhibit hall, 53,800 square feet of pre-function space where a video art wall spanning 360 feet provides both digital art and information, and a 147-foot observation tower showcasing panoramic oceanfront views. The facility offers the latest wired and wireless technology, including utility service on a 30-foot grid in the exhibit hall floor with 60 and 100-amp electrical service, as well as fiber-optic and category VI cable.

The 2008 American Bus Association "Marketplace", the organization’s annual, national six-day convention, brought more than 3,500 attendees to Virginia Beach, resulting in a reported $5-million boost for the local economy. The association had its highest turnout for the event and generated an estimated 12,000 room nights, most of them at a dozen participating hotels. The event was the first to use the entire the Virginia Beach Convention Center facility, and required between 50 to 100 buses to shuttle people to restaurants and sites around the region, including Norfolk.

At the Invigorate Your Senses media event, Jim Ricketts, Director of the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, told facilitiesonline, "it definitely showed what we could do and what the potential is for Virginia Beach as a year-round destination. But we also received several proposals from developers for new hotels and entertainment complexes because of the success of the event at the convention center." Ricketts added that announcements on the new projects could come by the summer.

Al Hutchinson, (left) Vice President of Convention Sales & Marketing, Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau with James B. Ricketts, Director, Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Virginia Beach Convention Center, the first convention center in Virginia to be certified "Virginia Green," recently hosted the annual convention of the American Bus Association.