Forty years of ‘Virginia is for Lovers’

By JIM NOLAN
Media General News Service
Published: November 25, 2008

Virginia is still for lovers.

Forty years and myriad honeymoons later, the playfully naughty slogan that put the Old Dominion on the map as a tourist destination for a younger generation is being refreshed as part of a new ad campaign to promote travel in the Commonwealth.

“Virginia is for Lovers” is being joined by “Live Passionately,“ designed to highlight the many loves — history, nature, wine, theater — that the state offers travelers outside a good hotel room.

“We are bringing ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ back to life,“ said Alisa Bailey, president of the Virginia Tourism Corp.

“It’s all been misunderstood,“ she said, referring to the sex appeal of the original slogan, which was conceived as a more targeted ad pitch with phrases like “Virginia is for History Lovers,“ and “Virginia is for Beach Lovers.“

“Really, what it’s all about is a love of travel and a passion for living,“ Bailey said.

Yeah, right.

If that’s so, few misunderstandings ever stirred so much passion and profit for a state.

Forty years ago, Virginia’s revenue from tourism was less than $3 billion a year. Today, officials say tourism is an $18.7 billion industry in the state, employing 210,000 people and generating $1.2 billion in state and local taxes.

When it was adopted in 1969, many thought “Virginia is for Lovers” was too edgy for a state tourism pitch.

But when Linwood Holton, governor from 1970 to 1974, saw the reaction of his three young daughters to a commercial featuring the slogan, he became its biggest ambassador, launching the catchy phrase into the public consciousness with the bully pulpit of his office.

“The next thing you know, New York was for lovers,“ quipped Holton, who appeared at a news conference at the state Capitol yesterday with his son-in-law, Gov. Timothy Kaine.

“That really was a stretch.“

“Virginia is for Lovers” also appeals to Kaine.

“It’s one of the most recognized tourism slogans in the world, or slogans of any kind in the world,“ Kaine said. “It’s got enormous brand equity and marketing power.“

He added: “It’s given us a marketing identity that is fun, that is current. As current today as it was in 1969 when it started, although in 1969 it raised some eyebrows.“

Jim Nolan is a staff writer for Media General’s Richmond Times-Dispatch.