The Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tourism marketing arm of Monongalia and Preston counties, will soon be adding Taylor County to its coverage area.
The move came at the request of Taylor County Commission and the city of Grafton, the county seat, said Susan Riddle, president and chief executive officer of the GMCVB.
“We are better together,” said Riddle, adding the GMCVB board approved the expansion into Taylor County. The move is expected to be completed by fall, she said.
By adding Taylor County, the home of Tygart State Park and the birthplace of Mother’s Day founder, Anna Jarvis, the visitor’s bureau now has more attractions to market to visitors from outside the area.
“The city is very excited to be work king with officials from Mon and Preston counties to promote not only Grafton and Taylor County, but the greater Morgantown area, and looks forward to working with the individuals from both Preston and Mon counties,” said Kevin Stead, Grafton city manager.
With the addition of Taylor County, Riddle said the GMCVB board may add two new members — one from the county and one from the city of Grafton. There are no plans to expand into more counties, she added.
“One of the things we have found is visitors and guests are looking for experiences in our immediate service area,” she said.
“Route 119 goes right through Grafton.”
Going hand-in-hand with the addition of Taylor County, will be the hiring of the Mountaineer Country Tourism coordinator for Preston and Taylor counties. Riddle said this job, which pays in the mid $20,000 range — is a full-time position.
Duties include:
Visiting tourist destinations in Preston and Taylor counties to assess needs and distribute tourism materials.
Develop tourist leads.
Attend meetings at community organizations as the tourism liaison for Mountaineer Country.
Staff and operate the Preston County Visitor Center and Taylor County outlet.
Assist with special events planning and staff Visitor Center welcome tables to generate tourism leads at community events.
“Taylor County does not have an official visitor’s center,” Riddle said.
The job — which Riddle hopes to fill later this year — requires a high school degree, or GED, some distribution supply experience, as well as knowledge of various software applications spreadsheets, database and graphics packages.
“This person will go out into the community and work with people who need information and going to sources who will generate leads,” Riddle said.
“Having a knowledge of the counties would be advantageous,” she said. “This is a different approach than what has been used in the past.”
Also, come fall, the bureau will be rebranding itself as VisitMountaineerCountry.com and will eliminate its TourMorgantown.com and TourPreston.com titles. As part of the rebranding, the bureau’s events calendar was already expanded. Also, the GMCVB expanded its Mountaineer Deals partnership program to the seven counties that comprises Mountaineer Country — Barbour, Doddridge, Harrison, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor.
Riddle said the bureau distributes more than 50,000 visitor guides every 12 months. By comparison, the next largest visitor’s bureau in the seven counties distributes around 10,000 visitor guides a year.
“This is not going to happen overnight,” she said. “…We are all in Mountaineer Country. Tourism is about relationships.”
