Racing drives visitors to Dan River region, but Caesars Virginia casino expected to bring high rollers

Racing drives visitors to Dan River region, but Caesars Virginia casino expected to bring high rollers

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  • Danville Register & Bee,
June 26, 2022 5:36 PM
  • Danville Register & Bee,

Danville and Pittsylvania County are sandwiched between two major racing destinations – Martinsville Speedway and Virginia International Raceway in Halifax County – that help drive the largest draw for regional tourism.

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VIR alone brings nearly 600,000 annual visitors to Southern Virginia with many of those people lodging, dining and shopping locally, said Corrie T. Bobe, the director of Danville’s Office of Economic Development.

In two years, Bobe believes that figure easily will be dwarfed by the Caesars Virginia resort that’s transforming a former textile site in what used to be the small mill village of Schoolfield.

Once up and running – sometime in 2024 – the casino resort is expected to bring more than 2 million visitors to the Dan River Region, setting the stage for the former textile and tobacco hub to become a tourism destination.