Tourism director cites Placer AI data showing modest visitor gains and longer stays

Ashley Smith, Allegany County director of economic development, presented January–February visitation metrics drawn from Placer AI during the March 19 meeting, describing inbound visitation as roughly 302,000 unique visitors and a year-over-year increase of about 0.9%. Smith said average overnight stays rose from about two days last year to roughly three days in the recent period, and that the in-market time for visitors averaged about 5.5 hours.

Smith explained Placer AI uses aggregated cell-phone movement data and other feeds to distinguish visitors who do not live or work in the county from residents, and she said the system flags day visits and repeat visits. She detailed top local destinations identified in the platform — including highway-exit businesses along the 86 corridor (Quickley's, 7-Eleven, McDonald's), retail and food-and-beverage venues and Swain ski resort — and said these data help the county reconcile marketing efforts and decide whether to pivot target markets.

Legislators questioned how Placer AI derives its figures and Smith explained that the software is fed by multiple platforms and uses phone-location patterns ("where that phone sleeps") to classify visitors. She emphasized that the report focuses on non-resident visitors and excludes people whose phones indicate they live or work in Allegany County.

Smith said the county will use these analytics to refine regional marketing and that more detailed business-level visitor reporting will follow as the county adds tourism businesses into the platform.