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Visit Mountaineer Country credits county tourism fund as events and lodging drive growth
Summary
Susan Riddle, president and CEO of Visit Mountaineer Country, told commissioners April 8 that the region welcomed roughly 300,000 visitors per month (transcript wording) and ranked first in West Virginia for overnight stays and day trips; she credited the Mon County Tourism Advancement Fund and county support for recruiting major sporting events and said the fund yields a strong economic return.
Susan Riddle, president and CEO of Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors Bureau, delivered the bureau’s annual report to the Monongalia County Commission on April 8, saying tourism is “guided by data, shaped by partnership, and rooted in a deep respect for place and community.”
Riddle told the commission the destination-based marketing effort helped the region top West Virginia in overnight stays and day trips and drew “about 300,000 visitors a month” (transcript wording). She said those visitors support local businesses and produce tax receipts that the bureau tracks to measure long-term economic impact.
Why it matters: Riddle credited the county’s Tourism Advancement Fund for helping recruit events that bring visitors and spending to the area, including NCAA competition and regional sports tournaments. She said the county fund and coordinated local partners were essential to attracting events that “deliver more than we expect” and provide lodging-tax revenue to reinvest locally.
Riddle described event recruitment wins and ongoing bids: the bureau supported a recent NCAA event and is pursuing additional championships (including swimming and diving), and the Mountaineer Gravel program is expanding the region’s destination offerings. She said the bureau has also explored visitor lodging opportunities such as dark‑sky cabins at Cooper’s Rock and noted private interest in similar cabin projects.
On return on investment, Riddle offered a conservative estimate: “it’s at least… eight dollars for every $1 that gets put into it,” and noted tourism-economics benchmarks can vary by event size and type. She also highlighted a concrete county contribution: the transcript records a $175,000 county support payment for an aquatic center that comes from the Tourism Advancement Fund.
Commissioners and staff asked how fund dollars are spent and how events translate into revenue; Riddle pointed to lodging-tax receipts and third‑party analyses (transcript references the West Virginia Department of Tourism and tourism-economics data) as the basis for broader impact estimates.
What happens next: Riddle said Visit Mountaineer Country will continue event recruitment, steward the Tourism Advancement Fund, and pursue partnerships to expand lodging options and destination programming. She invited commissioners to share the model with other jurisdictions and to support future bids.
Attribution: All direct quotes and program details are drawn from Susan Riddle’s presentation to the Monongalia County Commission (transcript SEG 156–SEG 724).
