Week 13: Telling Tourists Where to Go

At the end of this section, you will be able to:

• identify what makes a place "special" enough to justify a visit
• find national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and state parks in Virginia, and locate them in relation to urban centers
• describe why private (not government) organizations manage such sites such as Mount Vernon, Monticello, and - until 2016 - Natural Bridge
• explain why Norfolk/Virginia Beach have been unable to attract a top-tier professional sports team
• explain how Mason Neck was protected from development
• decribe the main gap in the spatial pattern of Welcome Centers at Virginia's borders
• describe how historic sites in Virginia present the heritage of slavery

Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, an ecotourism initiative, encourages visitors to stay a little longer, see a little more - and spend a little more too