Green Tourism
Sustainable practices – those which use resources in an environmentally responsible, socially fair and economically viable manner that ensures their use by future generations – are essential to the long-term health of the travel industry and, by extension, to destinations like Arlington.
The Arlington Convention and Visitors Service is dedicated to supporting and leveraging sustainability-related initiatives of the Arlington County Government, Virginia Government and local hospitality-related businesses to meet current visitor usage needs and ensure the use of tourism resources by future generations.
Arlington was the nation’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified community and is a nationally recognized leader in creating a sustainable and resilient urban environment. We have long-proven success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing stormwater, fostering environmental stewardship, and promoting our visitors' health and well-being.
In January 2023, Arlington announced it achieved its goal of 100% renewable electricity use at all County facilities, two years ahead of schedule. The facilities include County-owned buildings, streetlights and traffic signals, leased facilities, and the Water Pollution Control Plant. These sites are now working off of electricity from sustainable sources including Dominion Energy Virginia's Green Power program options for residences and businesses, on-site solar installations at County facilities, and the Maplewood Solar project in Pittsylvania County, supplying more than 80% of renewable electricity to Arlington facilities through offsets.
The following Arlington hotels are LEED-certified. Additionally, virtually every local property follows brand sustainability programs such as those from Choice, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Sonesta, Wyndham and more.
Arlington County’s Community Energy Plan (CEP) will set our destination on a path to becoming completely carbon neutral by 2050. Some of the plan's goals include:
Click on the link for more information on Arlington's sustainability efforts and green tourism initiatives in Virginia.