Photo by GoToWV
By Jake Jarvis/Charleston Gazette-Mail
Recent efforts from the state’s Division of Tourism appear to be paying off.
A new report found that advertising campaigns from the division are bringing more tourists to the West Virginia, tourists who are spending significantly more money.
The report, given to the Commission on Tourism during its Thursday morning meeting, found that for every $1 the state spends on advertising and marketing, it returns $14 in state taxes, double what the return on investment was in a 2014 report.
The division’s 2016 campaign generated 1.2 million trips to West Virginia, $165 million in visitor spending and $11.9 million in state and local taxes, the report found. For every advertising dollar spent by the division, visitors spent $193 in West Virginia this year, up from $96 in 2014.
“The dollars behind moving an image of the state is monumental,” said Tourism Commissioner Amy Goodwin after the meeting. “So while the ROI [return on investment] has doubled, and that’s huge, what I believe is truly going to move tourism forward is changing the image…”
Read the full story at wvgazettemail.com
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