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Virginia Destination Professional Certification - VDP
Activities counting towards the certification requirements must have occurred within the past two years. Renewal of your certification must be done two years after it is achieved to maintain your credentials. Before you submit materials, please register for the program. Your registration fee does not expire, but when you achieve the VDP, all activities must be within the two year window.
For example, all candidates who achieve their VDP in 2020must have all required activities completed since January 1, 2018.
A link to the submission portal will be provided in your receipt. If you have any questions, please contact VADMO at info@vadmo.org.
Certification Requirements
Knowledge Component - all four (4) required
1. Virginia cross-geography knowledge - two tours from different parts of the state + write an itinerary.
2. VTC - 2 of these activities needed to satisfy this element: A. Participate in a VTC sponsored event; B. support a welcome center; C. Attend VA-1 (may attend more than one to satisfy the entire requirement); D. complete a knowledge test about VTC.
3. Economic Impact - write a press release about the economic impact of tourism at the state or at your local level.
4. You must also attend three (3) VADMO endorsed sessions of the following: A. Customer Service; B. Tour/Travel; C. PR and Marketing; D. Finance or Governance; E. Conventions and Meetings; F. Partnerships and Regional Collaboration; G. Visitor Centers; H. International Promotion; I. New Trends.
Experiential Component - all four (4) required
1. Visitors Center - Applicants must show one day spent shadowing at a visitor center outside of a 50 mile radius from your home base or at a Virginia State Welcome Center.
2. Local Visitor Information Center - Applicants must show one day spent working in their own locality's Visitors Information Center.
3. Presentation - Applicant must make at least one presentation (public speaking event with handouts or PowerPoint) on the importance of Tourism to their community.
4. You must also complete two (2) of the following: A. Plan and conduct a FAM tour for your local area; B. Be a volunteer in the tourism industry, including such opportunities as working an event at a local site; C. Maintain another Industry Certification: such as graduation and certification from STS Marketing College, a CDME from DMAI etc.; D. Attendance at a VADMO quarterly meeting; E. University Credit in tourism related fields such as tourism, marketing, customer service, hospitality, business, administration and more; and, F. Attend a professional Tourism Conference.
Re-certification Requirements
Completion of 2 Knowledge and 1 Experiential components are required to maintain your certification every two years. The re-certification window begins on December 31 of the year in which you achieve your VDP.
EXAMPLE: If you achieve your VDP in June 2020 then you will not need to complete your re-certification components until December 31, 2022.