CENTRE COUNTY — The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau announced during its annual State of Tourism Breakfast on Tuesday, July 9, the economic impact of tourism within Centre County.
During the event, the results of the 2023 Centre County Visitor Volume study, conducted by Longwoods International, were revealed.
According to the study, 5 million trips to Centre County occurred in 2023, a new record and 3.1% increase from the year prior.
“One of the things that I’m most proud about in this community with our stakeholders is our ability to cooperate and work together in synergy. I can say that being in this hospitality environment for three decades, this is the strongest that I’ve seen the cooperation among all the different entities,” shared Jennifer Brooks-Stahl, board chair of the HVAB and general manager of the Wyndham Garden State College.
“I’m just so thrilled that we’re able to look further than our own interests and with the greater community. …. Last year, the HVAB set a goal of realizing 5 million visitors and a billion in visitors spending by the end of 2024. I’m pleased to report that we’ve already achieved that goal.”
Brooks-Stahl noted that 5 million visits revealed in the study included 3.2 million day trips and 1.8 million overnight trips.
“With an average visitor spending at $200, it’s safe to say that we have reached that $1 billion spending goal as well,” Brooks-Stahl said. “The county is well positioned to reach our next milestone of 6 million visitors by 2026.”
Brooks-Stahl noted the impact tourism has on Centre County, sharing, “Tourism is an economic engine that’s drive growth in Centre County,” and sharing how, by June of this year, the area has 2.8 million unique visitors who have visited the area five times.
“We see this impact in many areas, including the county’s lodging performance, which reflects this upward trend in visitation. In 2023, occupancy average daily rates, revenue per available room and total revenue were up in comparison to 2022. This is a time when supply was and still is down compared to pre-COVID levels. As a result, Happy Valley went to 13th in Pennsylvania county lodging performance.”
In 2020, Centre County ranked 17th and as of May of this year is now ranked 11th, according to Smith Travel Research data.
Additional tourism milestones noted during the speech included 21,000 referrals to county lodging properties via Book Direct; $960,200 in grants awarded to 77 tourism projects; the new HappyValley.com website; expanded news partnerships; a new holiday marketing campaign plan; and more.
Fritz Smith, HVAB president and CEO, praised the progress of the Centre County tourism industry but also highlighted some future goals, including:
• Looking into a holistic approach to all areas of the county so that each area is well marketed and represented.
• Collaborating with the new Cities of the Big 10 site, to tap into the sports tourism industry.
• Tapping into international marketing, specifically within India and China, which offer larger volumes of foreign students at Penn State University.
“We’re very positive about the future,” Smith said. “Despite some of the challenges ahead of us, we are ready to take it on, and we’re ready to get to 6 million visitors.”
Smith noted that the growth of the tourism industry also allows for job creation, sharing how the multiple new hotels that are in development within the region provide an increase in both construction and hotel employment positions.
“Change is inevitable. State College, with or without tourism, is going to be on a growth pattern solely by virtue of the fact that the university is expanding. So, I don’t know that the preservation of the small town is necessarily something we can control, but we do want to keep creating job opportunities,” Smith explained. “We also want more people who come to visit, because they could potentially become residents or become students.”
Still, Smith views the change as an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of Centre County.
“The state of Happy Valley tourism is strong,” Smith said. “Taking it to the next level is going to require countywide and organization-wide commitment to the Happy Valley brand, foremost, and continued community and university collaboration.”
