Photo via Visit Alexandria 360
There’s a new way to explore Alexandria that puts you almost in the midst of things.
Visit Alexandria 360 is a virtual tour of 22 attractions in the city, which sits across the Potomac River from D.C.
Nonprofit tourism group Visit Alexandria announced the virtual tool in a release on Tuesday, and it’s a much cooler project than the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium’s sad attempt to steal D.C.’s tourists over a decade ago.
A two-minute video introduction shows diners toasting on a patio as the Old Town trolley treks by, a cyclist riding along the Mount Vernon trail, a kid taking a tour of the George Washington estate, among other scenes. The tour lets potential visitors view panoramic photos of places such as Birchmere Music Hall, the Torpedo Factory, and the Alexandria Black History Museum as a narrator gives historical information about each spot.
The new resource comes about two weeks after Alexandria officials abandoned an effort to launch a business improvement district in historic Old Town at a time when officials say tourism is threatened by online shopping and The Wharf’s massive development across the river.
“We’ve had almost a lock on downtown waterfront entertainment, restaurants and retail opportunities and, now with The Wharf in the District, that project is worth about $2 billion in investment and it’s going to be major competition,” said City Manager Mark Jinks, according to the Alexandria Times.
Jinks announced on September 12 that an exploratory committee of business owners couldn’t put more effort into creating a plan for a business improvement district that would garner the approval from 55 percent of Old Town’s 2,100 businesses and 700 commercial property owners, who would be taxed to fund the BID.
He said the BID conversation may resurface again, but it’s on hold for now. In the meantime, Visit Alexandria 360 is one new way to lure folks to Old Town, Del Ray, and other neighborhoods in Alexandria.
People can access the tool via a smartphone or computer. But best way to take the tour is with a virtual reality headset, according to the Visit Alexandria release. People already in the city can stop by the at the Alexandria Visitor Center on King Street to sample the sites and scenes at a their virtual reality station.
