Alexandria ranked ahead of cities like Santa Fe, N.M.; St. Augustine, Fla. and Savannah, Ga. in the latest national travel magazine city rankings.
For the first time, Alexandria took the second place spot on the Condé Nast Traveler Best Small Cities in the U.S. list. The city ranked third last year and has been in the top five since the small cities category was created in 2018.
Alexandria ranked only behind Charleston, S.C. on the list, according to the magazine’s 39th annual Readers’ Choice Awards announced Tuesday.
Visit Alexandria has worked to get the city on Condé Nast Traveler and other high-profile travel magazines’ rankings. Alexandria has also been ranked in Travel + Leisure and Southern Living Magazine.
“Consistent national recognition in top-tier publications such as Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and others helps solidify the city’s reputation as a top destination and is a key part of Visit Alexandria’s year-round promotional efforts,” Visit Alexandria said in a release. “Research demonstrates that these rankings make a real difference in influencing travel decisions to our destination.”
Attracting more tourism to the city helps with Visit Alexandria’s strategy of increasing visitor-related tax revenues. At its annual meeting last month, Visit Alexandria reported that consumption tax revenue — sales, meals and lodging taxes — reached nearly $92 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30. In addition, the city achieved a record $119 hotel revenue per available room rate — a 3% year-over-year improvement after a 9.9% decline had been recorded up to January.
More than 757,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers voted in the Readers’ Choice Awards, which cover travel categories from cities and countries to hotels, cruise lines, airlines and airports.
The top 10 ranked small cities in the U.S. are:
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Alexandria, Virginia
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Santa Barbara, California
- Lexington, Kentucky
- Savannah, Georgia
- Healdsburg, California
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- St. Augustine, Florida
