CENTRE COUNTY — The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau presented the economic impact of tourism in Centre County on Tuesday, July 9, at its annual Tourism Status Breakfast.
The event also saw the release of results from the 2023 Centre County Visitor Count Survey conducted by Longwoods International.
The study found that 5 million trips will occur to Centre County in 2023, a new record and a 3.1% increase from the previous year.
“One of the things my stakeholders and I are most proud of in this community is our ability to collaborate and work together in synergy. I can honestly say in my 30 years in the hospitality industry that the collaboration between the various entities is the strongest it has ever been,” said Jennifer Brooks Stahl, HVAB chair and general manager of Wyndham Garden State College.
“I am excited that we can look beyond our own interests and focus on the broader community. … Last year, HVAB set a goal of achieving 5 million visitors and $1 billion in visitor spending by the end of 2024, and I am pleased to report that we have already achieved that goal.”
Brooks-Stahl noted that the 5 million visits uncovered in the study included 3.2 million day trips and 1.8 million overnight trips.
“With an average visitor spend of $200, it’s fair to say we’ve also achieved our $1 billion spending goal,” Brooks-Stahl said. “The county is well positioned to reach our next goal of 6 million visitors by 2026.”
Speaking about the impact tourism has on Centre County, Brooks-Stahl said, “Tourism is the economic engine driving growth in Centre County,” noting that as of June of this year, 2.8 million unique visitors had made five visits to the area.
“This impact is seen in many areas, including the county’s lodging performance, which reflects the upward trend in visitation. In 2023, occupancy average daily rate, revenue per room and total revenue increased compared to 2022. This is during a time when supply was, and remains, reduced compared to pre-COVID levels. As a result, Happy Valley County ranked 13th in lodging performance in Pennsylvania.”
Centre County ranked 17th in 2020 and was ranked 11th as of May of this year, according to data from Smith Travel Research.
Other tourism milestones mentioned during the speech included 21,000 referrals to county lodging through Book Direct, $960,200 in grants awarded to 77 tourism projects, the new HappyValley.com website, expanded news partnerships and a new holiday marketing campaign plan.
HVAB President and CEO Fritz Smith praised the progress Centre County’s tourism industry has made and also highlighted future goals, including:
• Consider a holistic approach to all areas within the county to ensure each area is properly marketed and represented.
• Work with new urban sites in the Big 10 to tap into the sports tourism industry.
• Leverage international marketing, particularly in India and China, which host many international students at Penn State.
“We are very positive about the future,” Smith said. “There will be some challenges ahead, but we are ready to face them and we are ready to achieve our six million visitor milestone.”
Smith noted that the growth of the tourism industry will also create jobs, pointing out that several new hotels are under development in the region, resulting in an increase in both construction and hotel jobs.
“Change is inevitable. State College is tending to grow just by the fact that the university is expanding, with or without tourists, so I’m not sure preserving our little town is necessarily something we can control, but we want to continue to create job opportunities,” Smith explained. “And we want to see more people visiting, because they could become residents or students.”
Still, Smith sees the change as an opportunity to show Centre County’s strength.
“Tourism in Happy Valley is thriving,” Smith said, “and taking it to the next level starts with a county-wide and organization-wide commitment to the Happy Valley brand and continued collaboration between the local community and the university.”
