LCVB View
A view of the new Lexington Visitors Center located on Main Street in Victorian Square.
The Lexington Visitors Center located on Main Street in Victorian Square as seen upon its opening in Oct. 2012
Lexington, KY – The Lexington Visitors Center, operated by VisitLEX – formerly the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau – located along Main Street inside Victorian Square, welcomed a record 25,000 visitors in 2013. The total for 2013 was a 100 percent increase over 2012 according to a release from VisitLEX.
VisitLEX credits the bump in visitors to the organization’s decision to move the center from Vine Street to its current location, which opened in October of 2012.
The 2013 numbers were triple amount of visitors from the last full year count at the previous location.
"The visitor information staff and I feel our location has played the biggest role in the incredible increase in traffic,” Julie Schickel, Lexington Visitors Center Manager said in a release. “We believe we are assisting more meetings and convention attendees as well as leisure travelers because we are so much more visible and easily accessible."
Across from Triangle Park on Main Street, the 1,500 square foot storefront has pictures and artifacts highlighting some of the unique aspects of the Bluegrass region.
One wall is adorn with a bourbon sniffing bar, allowing visitors to take a whiff of area whiskeys like Lexington’s Town Branch Bourbon, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses and others. Another wall has the appearance of a barn including a working barn door from Faraway Farm, the home of racing greats Man O’ War and War Admiral.
"Location certainly played a huge role in the significant increase of visitors however, the welcoming design of the new center and the exceptional service provided by our great staff has generated tremendous word of mouth promotion,” said VisitLEX President Jim Browder.