Lackawanna County visitors bureau outlines marketing, events and hotel-tax funding in Scranton presentation

Kirk Kimoni, executive director of the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau, told meeting attendees that the bureau focuses on digital marketing, sports recruitment and supporting local events to drive visitor spending and hotel stays in Lackawanna County.

Kimoni said the bureau’s website receives over one million visits yearly, the office distributes more than 100,000 printed and digital visitor guides per year, and recent state data (2022) put direct visitor spending in the county at about $726,000,000. “We look at tourism as folks come in from out of town, use very little, if any, social services at all. And when they leave, the only way we can tell for sure that they were here is the money that they've left behind,” Kimoni said.

The visitors bureau is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit that markets attractions across Lackawanna County and offers low-cost partnership options for businesses. Kimoni described the bureau’s primary funding source as the hotel-room tax: state authorization allows Lackawanna County to collect a 7% hotel-room tax, and he said the statute directs roughly 40% of that revenue to organizations like the visitors bureau and 60% to the county, the latter subject to statutory restrictions on use.

Kimoni outlined how the bureau supports events and venues: it maintains an events calendar on its website that accepts submissions via a web form or email; staff review and post listings and decide which listings receive social-media promotion. He said “any event within Lackawanna County” can appear on the calendar, from school fundraisers to large tournaments, though larger events are more likely to receive paid promotion.

Sports recruitment and tournament hosting are a major focus. Kimoni said sports is the bureau’s fastest-growing sales area because the region falls within a roughly four-hour drive for a large population base and offers competitive facilities at lower overhead. He cited examples including national youth and amateur tournaments hosted at county sports fields, Riverfront events and Montage Mountain Resorts. Kimoni said some festivals at Montage Mountain generate roughly $2,000,000 in economic impact and that the venue’s calendar can account for thousands of hotel room nights across a full season.

Kimoni also described marketing tied to the NBC/Peacock series The Office and related local initiatives: the visitors bureau sponsored a public mural and works with hotels and attractions to promote self-guided tours referenced by out-of-area visitors. He said the show is the “number 1 googled search term” bringing people to Lackawanna County and that it consistently drives website traffic and guide downloads.

On outreach and promotion, Kimoni said the bureau relies mainly on digital advertising and search-engine optimization, with targeted campaigns planned for the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets to promote “family affordable fun.” He said the bureau still places some print ads and distributes printed materials through partner hotels and the visitors office, which is open weekdays and located near the Radisson.

Kimoni invited local organizers to use bureau services: staff will help assemble hotel room blocks, provide promotional bags for group leaders and advise new events. He described the bureau’s internal review process for event listings and said staff will post most appropriately submitted events unless the content is “completely inappropriate.”

The presentation was informational; no formal actions or votes were taken. Kimoni said the office is available to consult with local partners and encouraged attendees to contact his staff with questions or requests.

Kimoni closed by restating the bureau’s aim to support small businesses and attractions countywide and to increase overnight stays, noting that the bureau measures success through website activity, room nights and hotel-tax revenue.