Chelsea Ruby Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Tourism School Aims To Grow More Hospitality Workers, Entrepreneurs

The first ever Governor’s School for Tourism wrapped up recently with high hopes that the 50 students will someday land jobs in West Virginia’s tourism sector.

The Governor’s Schools of West Virginia – which host a variety of free summer programs for selected students in grades 7 through 11– recently wrapped up a new offering: their inaugural tourism school.

“I know that this is something that (Tourism) Secretary Ruby and Governor Justice have wanted for a really long time,” said Lauren Bodnar, who is the state director of public relations for the Department of Tourism.

She and other tourism officials are hoping their efforts will pay off in the years to come.

The first-ever tourism school lasted ten days. During that time, 50 students from across the state – one for almost every county – ventured out to experience some of the top activities on a list of things to do in the Mountain State.

Some of the tourism students gather for a scenic photo during a pause in their ATV trail ride.

*Photo by Maria Young/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

“I believe they’re traveling over 1,000 miles from the Northern Panhandle and Wheeling to southern West Virginia to the Eastern Panhandle, Harpers Ferry and Cacapon Resort State Park. They’re really seeing and doing so much,” Bodnar said.

From whitewater rafting and ziplines to Blennerhassett Island and a Charleston Dirty Birds baseball game, it sounds like summer camp on steroids.

But it’s more than just fun and games.

These students are also getting an introduction to the variety of career paths that are available to them in the tourism sector. And there are some high hopes riding on the career choices they will make in the years ahead.

“The tourism industry in West Virginia is just booming,” Bodnar said. “It’s growing at a rapid pace, which is amazing, but we need the workforce to aid that growth. You can’t keep accepting visitors and not have the workforce growing as well. So I think we see this as kind of a way to start planting seeds with students who are in high school, that, ‘Hey, these are different career paths that could be available to you.’”

In the middle of Logan County, for example, students got to rev their engines and speed up and down some of the twisting, hairpin turns of the Hatfield McCoy Trail system.

It’s not hard to see why the mountainous terrain attracts more than 95,000 visitors a year – most of them from out of state.

What might not be so obvious at first is the impact those all-terrain vehicles have had on the economy of southern West Virginia.

There are so many people coming for this kind of activity that tourism officials say there aren’t enough workers to handle them all.

“Since the trail’s inception, we’ve had over 70 new businesses open up just doing lodging, just folks that are opening up either remodeling grandma’s house or opening up a hotel or a motel or cabins or major resorts,” said Jeffrey Lusk, Executive Director of the Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority.

“We have a dozen major resorts that have opened up in Southern West Virginia, with our primary customer being this ATV, UTV, off road motorcycle enthusiast,” he said.

Lusk and other tourism experts hope the new school inspires the students to pursue careers in tourism – particularly as entrepreneurs.

“We’re hoping that these kids go away from here wanting to open up a business, wanting to take hospitality in high school, wanting to go to college in hospitality or tourism management. We need all of those folks in tourism, and we don’t have enough of them,” Lusk said.

He said the tourism industry here offers good jobs with competitive benefits, salaries and looming opportunities through a host of older managers eyeing retirement options..

Sixteen-year-old Evan Bass is a rising junior from Clay County.

“Anything tourism based I’m known around the school for loving it. I’m known for getting out hiking. My nickname around the school was the dirty hippie. But I’m not dirty, I promise,” he joked.

Bass was selected for the tourism school – and he’s exactly the kind of investment tourism officials believe will pay off in years to come.

“In all honestly, I couldn’t see myself doing any doing anything besides tourism for West Virginia. I mean, I love it. This is what makes me who I am, touring the state and showing people that it’s such a great place,” he said.

“This experience with the West Virginia Governor’s School of Tourism has only furthered that motive.”

His biggest takeaway from ten days on the road: the doors are wide open for people his age to find a path to their futures. “We have opportunities beyond opportunities. Tourism, it’s flooded right now,” he said.

Digital Documents, Tourism School Announced By Justice Administration

The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is expanding its digital services with documents on motorist’s phones and the governor is opening a training program for tourism jobs for high school students.

The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is expanding its digital services with documents on motorist’s phones.

West Virginians renewing their registration online can now get a digital registration card stored in their smartphone wallet as part of the digital services and “Skip the Trip” initiative.

DMV Commissioner Everett Frazier joined Gov. Jim Justice during his regular briefing Wednesday, Jan. 24, to announce the new digital service as part of “an ongoing commitment to modernization.” Frazier also announced that this spring, West Virginia plans to join a growing number of states offering digital identification on mobile phones.

“These free services offers immediate access to vehicle information eliminating … the need of rummaging through your glove compartment or your center console there,” he said.

Frazier said the mobile ID will allow secure and easy identification at participating businesses and government agencies, but he advised motorists to keep the physical copies of their documents on hand when possible, especially when traveling out of state.

“Some states may not recognize it,” he said. “But for your security and stuff we’re going to continue to offer everything the same way we do it but this is gonna be in addition to.”

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, also joined the briefing to praise the department’s work to help move the state into the 21st century.

“I can’t wait for the day whenever I can hold my phone up to the license plate, renew the tags and not have to take the time to go to the DMV,” he said.

Training For Tourism

Justice was also joined by Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby to announce the applications for the Governor’s School for Tourism are now open.

“That’s starting this summer,” Justice said. “You know with tourism booming in our state and getting better and better and better, we need to train people, because these jobs, these jobs are great jobs, and they’re great paying jobs and everything.”

Ruby said the state is experiencing an explosion in tourism and in tourism jobs, with projections showing as many as 21,000 annual job openings in the next four years in the tourism industry.

“But what we’re running into is that our growth in the tourism industry is happening faster than we’re building that workforce,” she said.

The 10 day program designed for 9th and 10th graders will allow students to meet with people in various jobs in the tourism industry ranging from outdoor recreation, arts and culture to hospitality and lodging and culinary arts.

“They will visit every corner of the state, they will go to all of our travel regions,” Ruby said. “They’ll go to two national parks, a number of state parks … They’re going to really get a taste of what those jobs in West Virginia are like.”

In a press release after the briefing, Justice’s administration said the School for Tourism will accept one freshman or sophomore student from each county, as well as one student from each of the state’s five charter schools and a student from the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

15 Days Done

With 15 days completed, the 60-day legislative session is now one quarter of the way through.

Later in the briefing, Justice was asked for his opinion on the legislation’s activity so far, specifically the trend to focus on bills that appeal to conservatives.

“As stuff goes through the process, you know, it’s got to go through the House, it’s got to go through the Senate,” he said. “Wherever it originates a lot of different bells and whistles have to happen and everything before it comes to me. To pre-judge on my part, you know, before it gets to me. I mean, that’s really not very fair.”

Justice continued on to say that he believed God has a place in the state’s schools, and that students – the state’s top resource – need to be protected.

“Those kids are our resource and our gift, and so we should protect them with all in us,” he said. “I’m not going to pre-judge anything until I see it, so we’ll wait till it gets to me.”

Justice was also asked to defend his budget and tax cut proposals after public criticism.

“I really think what you’ve got is a very liberal group that I hope to goodness that they’re bright enough to be able to understand, and say your truth, but without a question, it adds up,” he said. “The math works, that’s all there is to it, you know, and from the standpoint of tax cuts, yeah, I want tax cuts. We’ve got it 23 times since I walked in the door … Why in the world would I do something at the eleventh hour, you know, on and my parting note and do something to mess up all the good stuff that we’ve already done?”

Department Of Tourism Launches W.Va. Culinary Trail

The West Virginia Department of Tourism is highlighting 27 restaurants in the state in its new Culinary Trail.

The West Virginia Department of Tourism is highlighting 27 restaurants in the state in its new Culinary Trail. To participate in the program, users need to download the Culinary Trail passport and then check in on their phones at any one of the participating restaurants. The app uses the GPS locations of the restaurant to confirm users check in.

The restaurants were chosen by one of nine chefs working with the Department of Tourism. West Virginia Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby encourages travelers to visit state and national parks while visiting Culinary Trail restaurants.

“While you’re tasting the best dishes the Mountain State has to offer, you might as well enjoy a side of adventure, too. Plan a foodie road trip and stay a while in ‘Almost Heaven,’” Ruby said.

Every time a user checks into a new restaurant, they receive a point towards a prize. Lauren Hough, public relations manager for the Department of Tourism, said three points can be redeemed for a Culinary Trail branded bottle opener, 10 points gets a chef-selected local ingredient and corresponding recipe card, and checking into all 27 restaurants gets a locally made charcuterie tray.

“It’s made by our good friend Matt Thomas at Thomas Works. He’s based out of Gilmer County, and he’s great,” Hough said. “I think any foodie, even if you’re not a foodie, I think you would enjoy having this tray in your home.”

The trail is part of an effort to give travelers an idea of where to go when visiting different parts of the state and encourage them to try out a new local restaurant. The Culinary Trail launched Nov. 15.

“This is a way to spread awareness about those restaurants that are off the beaten path, so that you can’t miss while you’re visiting,” Hough said.

West Virginia Has Best Tourism Year In 2022

Tourism brought more than $7 billion dollars into the state last year Gov. Jim Justice announced Monday at the West Virginia Governor’s Conference on Tourism at Canaan Valley Resort State Park.

Tourism brought more than $7 billion into the state last year, according to Gov. Jim Justice. He made the announcement Monday at the West Virginia Governor’s Conference on Tourism at Canaan Valley Resort State Park.

That represents a 17 percent increase in visitor spending compared to pre-pandemic levels. Justice noted that nationwide tourism has only increased 1 percent overall since the pandemic.

Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company that measures tourism spending and economic impact, found that visitors to the state had direct spending of $5.3 billion last year, an all-time high. Tourism Economics provides impact studies for 30 destinations and is the official research provider of U.S. Travel, which promotes American tourism around the world.

Visitor spending grew more than 30 percent since 2016. It generated $887 million in tax revenues last year, with $520 million going directly to state and local governments.

Food and beverage spending topped $1.4 billion in 2022. Lodging spending surpassed $800 million for the first time ever, led by a 275 percent increase in short-term rental revenue since 2019.

Justice noted that tourism supports more than 53,000 jobs that account for nearly $2 billion in annual income. Tourism-generated tax dollars contributed approximately $715 per household to maintaining government services.

W.Va. Government Facing, Meeting Workforce Development Challenges

The state government has been successful in attracting national corporations to set up shop in West Virginia. And, they say tourism jobs are ready to explode. The challenge now is filling thousands of positions that demand a wide variety of skill sets.

Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael said the lion’s share of more than 3,000 jobs created in 2022 – highlighting work with companies like steelmaker Nucor and power storage company Form Energy – will require advanced manufacturing skills training. Most, but not all.

“It’s problem solving, critical thinking, those types of things that are inherent in any education environment,” Carmichael said. “A more liberal arts education environment. But then you get to the specific skill sets, it’s metalworking, it’s plumbing, it’s electrical, and this understanding of electrical circuitry, and its materials handling.”

Carmichael said what gives West Virginia an edge in workforce development is the opportunity to train any citizen of West Virginia at no cost in the community and technical college education system.

“We have a labor shed data portal that provides how many people are available in a particular location in West Virginia,” he said. “That data is applied to a program called West Virginia Invests. It was enacted several years ago that we provide that complete training on track for an employer, and they love the fact that we do this, and that we will work with the company to design the training program.”

West Virginia Chancellor for Higher Education Sarah Tucker said the West Virginia Invests program has taken the state into a new era of educational flexibility, partnering with more than 700 state businesses and industries.

“When a company comes in and says I need 500 employees, one of the first things that I do is say to them, okay, break down for me who those 500 employees are,” Tucker said. “They need HR directors; they need people who are able to perform the backroom functions. It has people who need Ph.D.s, in some instances, and people who just need basic skill sets. So there’s a large swath and people get really nervous about that big number, but once you start breaking it down to the categories, it becomes much more realistic to think about how we can supply that workforce. Then we offer those programs for free in our community and technical colleges.”

Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said there are currently 70,000 people employed statewide in the hospitality industry. She says indicators show as many as 20,000 new openings annually over the next three years,

“About half of those jobs are in management level positions, with salaries approaching $60,000,” Ruby said. “So these are good paying jobs all across the state.”

Ruby said in tourism and hospitality workforce development, the plan is to spend about $5 million in federal grant dollars on specific areas of focus. The first is education, beginning with high schoolers.

“Making sure we have their curriculum developed in the schools, that we have pathways in place for students to start earning credit,” she said. ”And that we have curricula or that we have programs in our two year institutions across the state that are ready to take these students.”

Ruby said the second focus area is to work with employers to make sure that their current employees have the training that they need.

“That’s working through programs like the governor’s guaranteed workforce, and Learn and Earn,” Ruby said. “So really making sure employers have the dollars that they need to train their existing employees and to bring new ones in.”

Tucker said Learn and Earn is a 50/50 wage match program between the state of West Virginia and business and industry.

”If the company is willing to take essentially interns or apprentices from our community college programs, and have them work,” Tucker said. “That gives them real life work experience. That program has been highly successful.”

Ruby’s third point is developing an online tourism and hospitality industry education curriculum that folks across the state can use to get basic hospitality training. Tucker said there are several programs rolling out right now to meet the needs of the tourism industry, that again offer curriculum flexibility

“We ask, what positions are you looking for? What types of skill sets would you like for us to offer? And I think the programs that we develop and are in the course of developing are going to be programs that build on itself,” she said. “Because you may enter the hospitality industry at one level, and then decide that you want to move up and there needs to be buildable credentials and skill sets in order to do that.”

Heather Stevens, WVU’s Regional Research Institute Director, is one of many who believe on-the-job childcare is a must needed workforce recruiting and retaining incentive, especially for women.

“The reason that US labor force participation rates went way up, starting around the mid 70’s,” Stevens said. “Is that women entered the labor force at really high rates compared to the past. If you keep women out of the labor force, especially the sort of people who may have children, because of lack of access to childcare, you’re always going to have some sort of compression of your labor force participation rate.”

Many in West Virginia government roles believe government driven, industry partnered educational flexibility remains key to creating the needed West Virginia workforce for now, and the future.

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This story is part of the series, “Help Wanted: Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force.”

W.Va. Waterfall Trail Set To Expand

The West Virginia Waterfall Trail will include nine more stops statewide bringing the total of destinations on the list to 38.

The trail was created last summer as a tourism initiative to attract nature-lovers to the state. It’s used as a guide for waterfall hunters and spans southern West Virginia to the Northern Panhandle.

More than 35,000 participants have checked in to the trail from 49 states and 15 countries since its launch, according to Gov. Jim Justice’s announcement during his regular briefing Wednesday morning.

The expansion includes:

Westerly Falls in Fayette County
Pipestem Falls outside Hinton
Falls Mill in Braxton County
Parkinson’s Waterfall in Bethany
Mann’s Creek Falls at Babcock State Park
Sugar Camp Run Falls at Babcock State Park
Flanagan Branch Falls at Babcock State Park
Tucker Falls in Morgantown
Loopemount Waterfall in Greenbrier County

“It’s a unique offering for West Virginia as we continue to build our reputation as a true outdoor recreation state,” Department of Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said in a statement announcing the expansion. “I can’t wait to hear more stories and meet more folks out on the trail this summer. It’s an absolutely perfect summer activity for those looking to travel the state.”

Information about the waterfall trail, including how to sign up for a mobile passport and planner, is available online.