VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Mayor Bobby Dyer highlights tourism growth, a new entertainment district, and the city's military ties as pillars of Virginia Beach's economy.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer laid out his vision for the city's future during Thursday's State of the City address, pointing to tourism and the military as the twin engines driving the local economy.
On the tourism front, city leaders say Virginia Beach welcomed more than 14 million visitors in 2024, generating about $2.6 billion in visitor spending and nearly $3.9 billion in total economic impact. Dyer highlighted the Oceanfront as the center of that growth and pointed to new developments aimed at expanding tourism beyond the summer season.
Those developments include the Atlantic Park surf park project and the Dome by Ritter Mills concert venue. Together, they are part of a roughly $350 million entertainment district designed to bring year-round visitors and events to the resort area.
"The one thing we want to do we want people to come to the beach we had 14 million visitors come we want the people in Virginia Beach to know that this is their beach too and we want them coming out," Dyer said.
Dyer also highlighted the city's deep ties to the military community. Virginia Beach sits in a region with nearly 97,000 active-duty service members — the largest concentration of military personnel outside the Pentagon. City leaders say the military contributes nearly $26 billion in economic impact across the region, supporting thousands of jobs and local businesses.
Major installations like Naval Air Station Oceana and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story bring thousands of sailors, service members and their families to Virginia Beach each year.
"We're the number one destination for naval personnel that want to come to Virginia Beach," Dyer said.
Dyer says the city is focused on planting the seeds now so Virginia Beach can grow bigger and better in the years ahead.
