By Stephen Smoot
A combination of conservative budgeting and higher than expected hotel-motel tax receipts has given the Pendleton County Convention and Visitors Bureau a strong base from which to plan and build for the coming year.
As 2023 closed out, the newly established separate CVB was composed of members who had never budgeted for such an organization before. They intentionally budgeted a bit high to ensure coverage of the organization’s needs. Good stewardship of finances kept expenditures, in most cases, below monies set aside for those purposes.
Annie Humes, interim executive director, shared, for example, that the marketing budget spent only approximately 60 percent of funds budgeted for that purpose. Some of those unspent dollars, however, may be used to pay for Pendleton County welcome signs that are still clearing bureaucratic hurdles.
“We have done consistently better in hotel-motel tax than we did last year,” reported Humes. Those tax receipts also came in higher in 2023 than in 2022, showing continued growth over time. By state law, CVB organizations get a certain percentage of taxes on hotels, motels, and other forms of lodging from both county and municipal governments.
Revenues generated also serve as the best gauge of the health of the tourism economy. Humes added that “we’re continuing to see the industry grow.”
Lindsay Kazarick, board member, responded to reports that receipts from the Town of Franklin had actually declined by saying “we need to have that conversation” with municipal officials and county chamber of commerce representatives about what could have led to the drop.
Humes explained that in her interim role, she will make a report to both the Pendleton County Commission and Town of Franklin council. State law requires these regular updates as one condition for receiving the hotel-motel taxes. The Town of Franklin meeting would provide an opportunity to explore further why tax receipts from there went down while they rose in the rest of the county.
One of the priorities for the final months of 2024 lay in improving organization and planning. The financial committee reported that it had implemented new bookkeeping software for improved categorization of spending and other actions to create, as Humes described “a fully accurate picture of where we are.”
Kazarick responded by expressing appreciation to Humes and others who had completed the project, saying, “Thank you for doing all that. It’s a heavy lift.”
With the tourist season in relative hibernation, CVB board members and Humes turned their focus toward planning for 2025. Humes stated that “the marketing team had a good discussion. We reviewed the 2024 plan and improved what that document does for us.” A priority for marketing lay in “making sure we connect the dots all the way through” and complete projects and plans that get started.
Part of the marketing plan focuses on forging and maintaining communication with businesses that are related to, or otherwise benefit from, the tourism economy. Humes shared that the CVB must “incorporate needs and voices of constituent businesses in Pendleton County.”
One marketing feat came when Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine listed Seneca Rocks as a “Peak Pursuit” for its 2025 publications, This focus will bring even more exposure to one of Pendleton County’s and West Virginia’s most recognizable landmarks in a publication reaching large parts of Virginia and beyond.
Melinda Brooks then gave the report of the committee formed to reach out, find candidates, then hire a new executive director. She shared that “we’ve pushed pause in getting hiring in place,” while the CVB completes its organizational upgrades. With work on that front still underway, the board extended Humes’ temporary contract as interim director through December.
In the director’s report, Humes shared that she attended an area meeting with CVB directors from Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Grant counties as part of a monthly cooperation initiative. She also went to a quarterly meeting of counties placed in the Potomac Highlands tourism region. This includes Pocahontas and Randolph, along with the typically defined Potomac Highlands counties.
At the recent Mon Forest Towns meeting in Cowen, Humes learned that a recent POWER grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission will provide that organization more resources. Michelle Connor, the Town of Franklin representative with MFT, will hold a standing meeting at 12:30 p.m. every Thursday at the town office.
Humes then stated that the Pendleton County Chamber of Commerce would hold a meeting later that evening to start working on Maple Days 2025. She then said that the CVB would “get underway on all things Maple Days in the next few weeks.” This includes assembling a list of producers of maple and maple related products.
Next, the board held a discussion on potentially moving the regular meeting to another day and/or time. Humes said that she would put out a survey, and the board tabled the discussion until the results could be examined.
Finally, Humes shared a goal of analyzing tourism industry data for Pendleton County to identify what she called “keystone businesses” or “businesses that shine in some aspect of tourism.” The CVB would ensure that they received every opportunity to engage with county tourism initiatives and promotion.
