By Greg Jordan
The Register-Herald
GHENT – Skiers and snowboarders drifted down the slopes Monday while West Virginia’s governor encouraged both West Virginians and visitors to enjoy winter vacations in the Mountain State.
Speaking at Winterplace Ski Resort in Raleigh County, Gov. Patrick Morrisey urged travelers to make West Virginia their winter destination and help conclude what he said was a record-breaking year of tourism growth.
This year’s winter tourism is expected bring in over 18.5 million visitors, Morrisey said.
West Virginia’s annual tourism impact surpassed $9.1 billion earlier this year with 77.2 million visitors spending $6.6 billion, the governor said, calling it a new all-time record. He added that it was a 28% increase over pre-pandemic levels.
“Oh, this is amazing,” Morrisey said when he stepped outside after a press conference. “We’ve talked about winter tourism, which is just as dynamic as the other three seasons. West Virginia has so many amazing places to ski, to tube and to just go out and take advantage of wild and wonderful. We’re a four-seasons state and people love coming here. Great value. Wonderful product. The experiences are unmatched, so we want to keep letting people know that tourism is on the rise in West Virginia.”
Keeping the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve in Fayette County open when the federal government shut down gave West Virginia’s tourism industry a boost.
“Remember when all the parks were shut down?” Morrisey said. “We were the first state in the nation to be able to make sure the parks stayed open. I’m told that during October tourism was up at that park 25%. That’s just amazing. I think the more people learn about wild and wonderful West Virginia, the more they come back and it’s a great success story for our state.”
Tourism supports almost 61,000 jobs across the state and generated $1.1 billion in tax revenue last year, the governor said.
“There are so many incredible jobs that are supported by tourism,” Morrisey said. “You have over 61,000 direct jobs and so many other jobs that flow from it. All the restaurants that get filled up. The hotels and many stores. They benefit when people are coming into our state, so it makes such a big difference. We are going to continue to invest in tourism. You’ve seen that a lot with the prior administration, my administration. We’re going to keep doing more and more and I want to thank the Legislature for all their efforts and contributions as well.”
Despite the recent inclement weather, West Virginia’s winter tourism keeps contributing to the economy, the governor said.
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