The Shenandoah County Tourism Council met with representatives of the Virginia Tourism Corporation on Tuesday to discuss implementing tourism zones in the county, as well as planning strategies to convince the Board of Supervisors to sign on.
Tourism zones are locality defined areas that offer tax incentives and regulatory flexibility to businesses. For instance, a tourism zone could reduce permit fees for a new business moving into a tourism zone, or offer special zoning.
Wirt Confroy, Virginia Tourism Corporation director of business development, emphasized that these zones are distinct from traditional zoning, and the two don’t conflict with each other – “this is more like a small-z ‘zone’ than a big-z ‘Zone’,” he said.
