Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau: Carbon County visitor economy about $853 million; bureau highlights grants, safety and product development
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Summary
At the May meeting, a Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau representative told commissioners that Carbon County accounts for roughly 3.6 million visitors a year and an $853 million visitor economy. The bureau described local grant programs, safety campaigns and product-development work aimed at spreading visitation beyond Jim Thorpe.
Chris Barrett of the Pocono Mountain Vacation Bureau presented the bureau’s annual report to the Carbon County Board of Commissioners, saying Carbon County accounts for about 12% of the destination’s visitation — approximately 3.6 million people — and a visitor economy the bureau estimates at about $853 million.
“Guest spending, it's up 32% since '19,” Barrett said. He told the board the bureau estimates direct guest spending of about $600,000,000 and said the industry in the county employs roughly 4,735 people, with $134,000,000 in labor income. Barrett said about 50% of visitors come from the New York DMA and 25% from Philadelphia.
The bureau left commissioners with its board report and a recent clean audit. Barrett said Carbon County did “incredibly well with the hotel tax” and described several local programs funded or supported by the bureau: a visitor center that serves roughly 400,000 guests a year (noted as a $324,000 expense), a community grant program that has returned about $55,000 to county nonprofits over three years, hotel-tax grants providing roughly $186,000 in county support (including overtime for police during events), and $62,000 for guest restrooms and portable facilities.
Barrett described product-development efforts intended to spread visitation beyond Jim Thorpe, citing work on Lansford and other towns and possible collaborations around the Reading & Northern train station. He said the bureau is exploring packaging of historic assets and guided tours to lengthen stays and increase economic benefit across the county. Barrett also noted an anti-littering initiative — the bureau says volunteers have collected about 50,000 bags of trash and more than 3,000 tires across four counties since 2018.
Commissioners thanked the bureau for its work and for in-kind support of a county fentanyl awareness campaign; Barrett said the bureau produced commercials and billboard designs for that program at no charge. Commissioners also discussed distributing hotel-tax and impact grants countywide so towns beyond Jim Thorpe receive funds.
Barrett offered to provide the board the bureau’s slides and a spreadsheet with the underlying figures for commissioners to review.
Ending paragraph: The presentation concluded with commissioners thanking Barrett and bureau staff; commissioners asked for the bureau’s materials to be circulated to the board for follow-up.