Mark Ickes is excited: This week, the Allegheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau will unveil a new name designed to help attract tourists and tourism dollars to Blair County.
Ickes, who is executive director of the bureau, said the current name does not identify Altoona and Blair County as its target audience.
"The name is too vast for Altoona and Blair County. The current trend with marketing is to connect a name to its most recognizable city, with Altoona the most recognizable in the area," Ickes said. "We need to position Blair County well in the eyes of a potential visitor. We are not just looking at what works in 2012. We are looking ahead to what will work strategically over the next five to 10 years as well."
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Mirror photo illustration by Tom Worthington II/Mirror file photos
ATV riders enjoy the trails at Rock Run Recreation Area in Cambria County. Visitors flock to Altoona (above) to watch a steam locomotive pass by Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site this summer.
According to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, tourism in Pennsylvania is a $32.9 billion industry, with the state reaping $3.4 billion in taxes in state and local revenues. In addition, approximately 433,000 people are employed in travel and tourism-related jobs across the commonwealth.
Blair, like other surrounding counties, saw its tourism revenues rebound in 2010 after dropping from 2008 to 2009. The same trend is seen in the number of tourism-related jobs.
"Over the past two years, our lodging demand has been on a healthy rise. That is a strong indicator. We have had five times the number of campaign leads [when someone visits after getting information from marketing material]. That is another strong indicator of interest," Ickes said.
Blair County has a lot of attractions - including what Ickes calls the five hooks - to attract tourists. The five are DelGrosso's Amusement Park in Tipton and Lakemont Park, Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site, the Altoona Railroaders Museum and the Altoona Curve minor league baseball team, all in Altoona.
"We are the only county in Pennsylvania with two amusement parks and that positions the county well. They are cost-effective means of family entertainment," Ickes said. "Our railroad heritage is also a major draw with the Horseshoe Curve and Railroaders Museum. Peoples Natural Gas Field [home of the Altoona Curve] is one of the most attractive minor league ballparks."
In addition to the upcoming rebranding, the bureau continues to use other means to promote the area.
Ickes said a lot of attention has been focused online, with website banner ads and social media.
"That has enabled us to target other demographics, to attract them to travel to Altoona and Blair County," Ickes said.
Bedford County
In neighboring Bedford County, Dennis Tice, executive director of the Bedford County Visitors Bureau, said small counties like Bedford are not affected as much by a tough economy.
He said the bureau views its No. 1 resource as the people who are already in the area.
"We try to develop methods of attracting people here so they will tell their friends. We want people who come here to want to come back. We try to provide things that are fun. It is a challenge to create things to give people a positive feeling so they want to come back," Tice said.
Some of Bedford County's top tourist attractions include historical sites such as Old Bedford Village, Fort Bedford Museum and the Omni Bedford Springs Resort.
Tice said the bureau targets people getting off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
"Hopefully they will stop and go to the restroom and see our information," Tice said. "Maybe a 'passing through' visitor will turn into an overnight visitor."
Tice noted that the increasing tolls on the turnpike may have a negative impact if people don't use it as much.
He said it hasn't been determined how high tolls have to go before that has a major impact on use.
"We rely on billboards on the turnpike - 11 [million] to 12 million people pass through the turnpike a year," he said. "People have shown they will come here. We want to attract them to our sites."
Centre County
Tourism in Centre County seems to be holding its own, said Betsey Howell, executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau in State College.
"The businesses that I have talked to seem to be doing OK. The hotels are doing fine, as are the restaurants and attractions," Howell said. "I would say things are going pretty well."
She said some of the county's top attractions include Penn's Cave in Centre Hall, the Victorian charm of Bellefonte, the Pa. Military Museum in Boalsburg and the arboretum at Penn State University.
Howell said some of the historical sites are having a more difficult time because they do not have the money to promote themselves.
Howell said a study conducted by the bureau found that "scenery" is the top reason to visit Centre County.
"We have the mountains and outdoor recreation opportunities. With State College, you have a metropolitan area that offers Broadway theater productions and national musical events at the Bryce Jordan Center, and then you go a couple of miles and can go biking, hiking and fishing," Howell said. "We have a good variety."
The bureau is getting a good response from national advertising in women's magazines, in the USA Today vacation planner and in Parade magazine.
Cambria County
Lisa Rager, executive director of the Greater Johnstown-Cambria County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Cambria County tourism is staying fairly level.
"Some of the lodging people would say they may be ahead and others would say they are a little under from a year ago," Rager said. "Our region is not extremely expensive to visit, compared to the large metro destinations. People can find a lot of high-quality experiences here and get more value for their money spent here."
Cambria County has a balance of attractions between history and heritage sites and outdoor recreation.
Rager said Rock Run Recreation in Patton brings in people from other states for its off-road trials, while swimming, boating and camping at Prince Gallitzin State Park in Patton also helps.
"We also have sites like Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site and the Johnstown Flood National Memorial," Rager said. "You can do about anything you enjoy."
She said the bureau uses social media and the Internet to get the word out about the area.
Rager said Cambria County also has had success from advertising in Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies Home Journal.
"Women are often the decision makers or have an influence on a family's travel decisions," Rager said, noting why advertising in those two magazines has been successful.
Huntingdon County
While the other area counties don't seem to have felt the sting of the economy, it has had a negative impact on tourism in Huntingdon County, said Matt Price, executive director of the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau.
According to the Army Corps of Engineers, attendance is down compared to last year and below the five-year average on Lake Raystown property, Price said. On the other hand, room tax revenues in the county are on par with the last couple of years.
Raystown Lake remains the county's top attraction.
"It is the largest lake in Pennsylvania, an 8,300-square-foot area. We have two showcase caves in Lincoln and Indian Caverns, the Swigart Antique Auto Museum, remnants of the [Pennsylvania] canal, and the Rockhill Trolley Museum," Price said.
He said the area has loyal visitors. A survey done for the bureau showed a 90 percent retention rate when it came to repeat visitors to the county.
"Once they come here, they come back five times. They look at it as an annual pilgrimage," Price said. "That bodes well for us."
Cooperative spirit
The county tourism groups also work with the The Alleghenies Tourism Council, a partnership of organizations interested in further developing the tourism industry and economic development opportunities in the region.
The Altoona-based council works under the umbrella of the Southern Alleghenies Planning & Development Commission, a nonprofit economic development agency.
"We oversee eight counties. Our goal is to promote tourism in the Alleghenies region. In the past we have focused on outdoor recreation. But over the last several months we have turned our focus to group travel of all sizes, from two people to 200 plus," said Adrienne Eichenlaub, regional tourism promotion manager.
Funding remains the biggest issue facing the tourism groups.
According to the state Department of Community and Economic Development, tourism funding from the state dropped from $16 million in 2008-09 to $3.5 million in 2011-12. Funding was increased to $5.8 million for 2012-13.
"Funding for tourism programs has been drastically cut. We have had our funding cut from about $500,000 to $100,000. Most of the money has been used for marketing," Eichenlaub said. "If you are not invited to the party, you will go to another one."
Price noted that in a small county such as Huntingdon, stretching the budget to market attractions is a challenge.
"The state's support has basically gone away. We are left to rely on our local membership and the county room tax," Price said.
There may be some help on the way for marketing Pennsylvania's attractions.
State Rep. Jerry Stern, R-Martinsburg, has introduced legislation that would take the state's tourism office out of the Department of Community and Economic Development and create an independent state agency called the Pennsylvania Tourism Commission.
The agency would be headed by an 11-member board comprised of industry leaders, including representatives of local tourism promotion agencies and professionals with at least a decade of marketing and advertising experience. This would essentially be a public-private partnership to ensure consistency and continuity of tourism messaging across administrations, Stern said.
"The gist of it is to allow the marketing folks who deal with tourism to do it," Stern said.
Local tourism officials said they support Stern's legislation which is still in the House.
"I think it is a great idea," Price said. "Having a public-private partnership that is designed to market Pennsylvania as a tourist destination is a great solution and a way to move the industry forward."
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.
