The CVB has completed an inventory of sports facilities in the Greater Morgantown area and published “Greater Morgantown Sports Facilities Handbook,” a guide for regional and national amateur sports events planners. Voted one of the “Best Sporting Cities” by The Sporting News and winner of the Sports Event “Readers Choice Award,” Greater Morgantown offers an ideal venue for sporting events. The Handbook is available online at www.tourmorgantown.com as a downloadable pdf. If you are aware of a sports event seeking a venue, please contact Sports and Special Events Manager Dave Plevich at dplevich@tourmorgantown.com or call (304) 292-5081.
The GMCVB’s Innovative Programming Grant is designed to create and develop sustainable venues and events which will attract visitors to the Greater Morgantown area, primarily Monongalia and Preston counties, increase overnight stays in hospitality properties, and increase economic development throughout the multi county region.
In May, the CVB awarded $50,014 in grants to nine events/organizations: MountainFest Motorcycle Rally, Mountaineer Balloon Festival, Jim Dunn Run, The Brew Ha Ha, Mon County Fair, WV Bass Federation Invitational Championship, Motown Throwdown, Deckers Creek Half Marathon, and the Rowlesburg Revitalization Committee.
Restaurants, hotels, stores, attractions and events in the Greater Morgantown area are invited to “get listed” on www.tourmorgantown.com . . . FREE. Your listing includes: address; days and hours of operation; up to 25 words describing your business, event or attraction; and a link to your Web site! Businesses may also include coupons, menus, and photos that can be changed at any time. Just click here for the listing form; reach over 50,000 unique visitors! Listings are uploaded at the discretion of the Greater Morgantown CVB.
Sports and Special Events Manager Dave Plevich accompanied Tim Bucklew from Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa to the Toronto Golf Show in March. The two worked together to recruit Canadian golfers to the area.
In April Sports and Special Events Manager Dave Plevich promoted Greater Morgantown to over 500 sports and special events planners at the NASC Sports Symposium in Columbus; the NASC’s members include event owners and vendors as well as suppliers to the sports event industry. The NASC is the primary network for communication and information sharing on all topics relating to the sports event industry.
Executive Director Peggy Myers-Smith and Director of Marketing Cindy Coffindaffer attended the DMAI Visitors’ Shirtsleeves International Session in Las Cruces, N.M. in March. The conference provided initiatives and best practices that will be implemented in the CVB Visitors’ Centers located in Morgantown and Kingwood.
Greater Morganton is hosting so many events between June 19th - 27th that the Greater Morgantown CVB is packaging all of the attractions under the title “Fish & Chicks!” The week long activities include: the Miss West Virginia Scholarship Pageant at the WVU CAC, The West Virginia Public Theatre presentation of “Hairspray” at the Morgantown Event Center, and Cabela’s King Kat Tournament on the Monongahela River (including Cabela’s King Kat Kids Fishing Rodeo, live Bluegrass music, and the “Weiner Dog Race”). Mylan Park will host RibFest, the Outside Horseshoe Pitching Club Tournament and the Triple Crown Tournament (baseball and softball). The CVB is holding a catfish photo contest online as well. Area lodging properties will receive handouts that describe the events and map the event venues. If you need additional handouts, please call Louryn Harper , Visitor Information Specialist, at (304) 292-5081.
The results of a new Portrait of American Travelers (YPartnership, April 29, 2010) reveal that one out of four leisure travelers in America with an annual household income over $50,000 took at least one overnight leisure trip/vacation in their local area (within a 50-mile drive radius of their home) as an alternative to vacationing in a destination that would have required traveling a greater distance at least once during the previous twelve months. These “staycations” are more likely to have been taken by unrelated adults living together (versus those who are married), and adults with children in residence in their home. YPartnership predicts that local and regional origin markets retain considerable potential for generating incremental business in the year ahead, and this potential is likely to remain robust through the duration of 2010 and well into 2011.
