The town is one of the most significant resorts along Lake Velence offering a number of well-developed tourist services. The wine culture of the region is also famous. A famous wine growing area of Velence, Bence Hill is traditionally known for white grapes (Mézesfehér, Riesling, Hárslevelű). The highlight of the events organized around the cult of wine is the hill festival of St Orban's Day in May, which has been celebrated for nearly two decades and the Wine Harvesting Feast in September.
The settlement was situated along the most important commercial route between Buda and the Adriatic Sea, so it had a significant role in Roman times on the military route running between Savaria and Aquincum.
Charters dating from the Árpád Age refer to the lake and later to the settlement by the name of Ferto. Subsequently it was called Venetio by Antonio Bonfini, a Humanist scholar, who travelled through the town several times to Buda and Fehérvár, as he attributed the development of the town to Venetians who had arrived from Italy. The oldest church of the town is the Calvinist church built around 1690.
Velence was once a centre of fishing, but by now the characteristic fishing vehicles, storage barges and ice pits have disappeared. They have been replaced by attractively landscaped family holiday houses. It was in the 1930s that development of the resort began and the town, just like Gárdony became a resort. Another boom came in the 1970 when the first Centre for Young People and Hikers was built in Hungary.
Velence was awarded the first prize in the competition of Entente Florale Hungary in the category of villages in 2000, then the following year it won the silver medal as well as a special award in the European competition. In the memory of this noble victory the well-known rose-breeder Gergely Márk named his latest yellow rose "Velence rózsája" or the Rose of Velence. This flower has become one of the symbols of Velence. The value of local hotels, restaurants, touristic services based on a voluntary assessment system is marked with one to five bronze roses on a marble stone.
In 2004 the village was promoted to a town.
Velence has all the potential to become a major resort of Hungary, due to the proximity of Lake Velence, the mild slopes of Velence Hills, the capital and Székesfehérvár as well. The only water ski track of Lake Velence has been built here, there is also an exit for surfers, tennis courts, covered swimming pool, squash court, gym, fitness centre, several sports and recreational facilities have been established on and by the water to serve those who like doing exercise, playing games or doing extreme sports. There is a walkway and a bicycle lane running along the lake and the central parts of the town.
The Velence Summer Nights with Music series of events have been attracting people for 10 years now. You can take magnificent walks on Bence Hill as well as to the Angelika Spring.