The slogan has been around since 1969, when what was then the Virginia State Travel Service (now the Virginia Tourism Corporation) awarded the account to advertising agency Martin & Woltz Inc. (now known as The Martin Agency of Geico gecko and caveman fame) in 1968.

The agencies' original idea was a series of themed ads: "Virginia is for beach lovers", "Virginia is for mountain lovers" and so on. Nice, but a bit predictable and a little too limited in scope.

So Martin & Woltz Inc. removed the modifier to create a slogan that was open to interpretation. Rather than being just for beach or mountain lovers, Virginia was now for lovers of whatever it was that people loved, including other people.