Division of Tourism Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Whiskey Tourism Is Growing In West Virginia

For generations, visitors have come to West Virginia for the scenery and a taste of adventure, but over the past few years, they’re coming to sample whiskey.

For generations, visitors have come to West Virginia for the scenery and a taste of adventure, but over the past few years, they’re coming to sample something else.

Whiskey.

Jeff Arthur at Mountain State Distillery on Capitol Street in Charleston said he was making whiskey in West Virginia before making whiskey in West Virginia was cool – or at least before it was legal.

“I grew up in an area where moonshine was pretty common,” Arthur said. “I knew some people that made it and I eventually learned how to do it myself.”

Across town at the Bullock Distillery, Tighe Bullock said he got into the whiskey business as a way to become part of the neighborhood he was building in.

“I think it’s such a great American endeavor, such a great American task,” Bullock said. “You take some water, you take some corn, you care about what you do and you care about every step of the way. You put some heat in there and you have a really good product. Whiskey comes from Ireland and Scotland, but it’s an American thing.”

Brooke Glover at Swilled Dog, a Cidery and Distillery in Pendleton County, got into the alcohol business because she said her family saw an opportunity.

“Well, the cider market had a big boom, especially in Virginia, around 2016. And that’s when we really came onto the scene,” Glover said. “We found that there was a need in the state of West Virginia that wasn’t being served. There was only one other craft cider in the state. They make amazing cider, as well. We thought that there was a need and we thought that we could use that local agriculture. So, cider which is something that we love to make, and we saw a need in the marketplace.”

They each said they hoped locals would embrace the neighborhood craft distillery much in the same way they embraced neighborhood craft breweries. What they didn’t really count on were travelers stopping by on their way through or tourists seeking them out.

“We really started with people who were coming over and didn’t know about us, had heard about us from locals or just kind of searched for something on Google,” Glover said. “They didn’t have anything to do in the evenings when they were coming over to do climbing, camping and hiking and all those things. That’s how we started with bringing people in. And it has actually changed now to the majority of people who are specifically coming for Swilled Dog. They’re specifically coming to the area and they’re like, ‘What is there to do around you guys?’ And we get to tell them about all the amazing places that we have to experience West Virginia beauty.”

Bullock agreed.

“Some people seek out these kinds of things. They seek out breweries. They seek out distilleries. They seek out that ‘terroir’ of different regions,” he said. “And so we’ve seen people from Brazil, Germany, England, not to mention all the surrounding counties and states. We’ve talked about having a little map where people can put their pins where they’re from.”

It’s been a bonus for some distillers and a real shot in the arm for others.

“It’s very hit and miss,” Arthur said. “When there are events in town, be that Live on the Levee…the regatta was incredible. But even like soccer tournaments down at Shawnee – stuff like that brings all these people here to stay in these hotels. That’s where the bulk of my business comes from. If it wasn’t for tourism, I couldn’t do this.”

Tourists coming to buy products from these distilleries underscores what they say they really want to do –bring outside money into the state and then keep it local.

As much as they can, Glover and Bullock say they buy here.

“We get all of our grains from Mason County, which is old Mr. Yauger. Who, he’s got to be in his late 70s by now,” Bullock said.

Glover said they not only get apples and grain from farms in West Virginia, but they get their oak barrels in-state, too.

“We use West Virginia Great Barrel company barrels for everything that we do,” she said. “They’re in Lewisburg and they’re just amazing. The quality of what they’re producing just ups our quality exponentially. So, it kind of makes it easy.”

The more product they sell, the more local goods they’re able to buy, Bullock said.

The distilleries are trying to be destinations. They schedule live entertainment, host trivia nights and sell merchandise. Some of it comes from area artists or craft businesses.

“We make our money off of this stuff we make in the back, but we have a big tasting room and again like I said, we have a great presence in the capital city of West Virginia,” Bullock said.

“So, while we’re engaging those people, like I said, from Brazil, Germany, people that are visiting us –even if they’re just using the restroom or just getting a sandwich down at the Grill or Gonzoburger or Books and Brews. While we have that opportunity to engage them, why not introduce them to some local honeys, maple syrup that’s been aged in certain barrels? There’s always that opportunity for interaction. If I can help facilitate that, then here I am.”

The distillers all said they’ve had some good experiences with tourism but say the state could probably do more to help them. They did concede that it may not be in the hands of the Department of Tourism.

“Right now, I have a micro distillery license and I’ve already outgrown it,” Bullock said. “One of the main things being that I can’t sell out of state with my current license. I don’t know why the legislature would not want me to sell out of state. I don’t really understand that aspect of it. I think that every license that you have in distilling should enable you to sell at a state. I can’t imagine one good reason why the legislature would want to not allow us to sell out of state.”

Bullock said just allowing small companies like his to sell outside of West Virginia could benefit a lot of people. It would acquaint people with the state’s spirits which might draw fans to come to the state and visit the source. Arthur pointed out people already do this in Kentucky with that state’s popular bourbon trail.

Meanwhile, Glover said the state has been good to them, but they could really use some help from the division of highways. They’re on the wrong side of a mountain.

“Our facility is actually right on the backside of Seneca Rocks,” Glover said. “There’s no road that goes in between. So, you have to go all the way to Franklin and then all the way around. But we’re only like a couple miles just, you know –if you just make a straight line. You can do it. I think there’s like a fire road or something that some people have talked about, but we’re right there. I’m like, ‘Oh, come on, just get off the road!’”

West Virginia Will Use Truck Advertising To Promote Tourism

West Virginia is using tractor-trailer advertising to promote its “Almost Heaven” tourism campaign.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced the pilot program at a news conference Tuesday in Mineral Wells. The state Tourism Office will partner in the campaign with the West Virginia Trucking Association starting July 1. Images on the trucks include whitewater rafting, all-terrain vehicles and hunting.

Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby says “we have to promote West Virginia as a vacation destination.”

Fourth-generation West Virginia trucking firm Matheny Motor is providing the first truck in the campaign. The truck will drive a daily route from Parkersburg to Beckley, Huntington and back. More trucks are expected to be added later.

Justice says the moving billboards will send “our message all over God’s green acres.”

Almost Heaven: West Virginia Starts New Tourism Campaign

West Virginia is embarking on a tourism advertising push using John Denver’s iconic song “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

Gov. Jim Justice unveiled https://youtu.be/3oahTlwHgkU” target=”_blank”>a video Wednesday, April 11, as the centerpiece for the campaign that frames the song and the state’s natural beauty. The campaign borrows the words “almost heaven” as its slogan.

Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby said officials “want to change the way people think about West Virginia.” She said research shows 86 percent of people who come to West Virginia eventually return. But last year, only 14 percent were first-time visitors.

The state tourism office previously obtained the rights to use the song in marketing. It’s been an unofficial West Virginia anthem almost since its 1971 release and was named an official state song in 2014.

W.Va. Tourism Campaign Aims to Attract Out-of-Staters, Millenials

While many state agencies were enduring cuts during the 2015 legislative session, the Division of Tourism actually saw an increase of about $4 million, totaling $7 million for the marketing and advertising budget. That money, however, was dedicated to creating and implementing a tourism marketing campaign titled “Real. Wild and Wonderful West Virginia”.

West Virginia’s Commissioner for Tourism Goodwin, Amy Goodwin, explained Monday at Tourism Day at the Capitol that the campaign is focused on attracting a specific demographic to West Virginia, a younger more vibrant group focused on exploring and experiencing: Millennials.

“Well we know this: Millennials are the fastest growing demographic in the travel and tourism industry,” Goodwin said. “They want things that are real. They want craft beer. They are farm-to-table. They grew up wanting experiences and not things. We’re really honing in, really looking towards that demographic.”

Millennials have an estimated 200 billion dollar annual buying power, but Goodwin says the state has to rethink how they’re reaching that key group.

As the Division of Tourism increasingly targets Millennials, they’ve adopted a new, more tech-savvy approach to get young people to explore all the places the state has to offer, the GoToWV app. This app allows users to plans trips, research events and even explore sites across the state.

“You can look at all the wonderful things that we have in the state. You can create your own agenda or where you want to go, your favorite spots,” Goodwin said. “You can learn a little bit more right in the palm of your hand because this is what we know: it is mobile people are mobile, and they want this information right this second.”

The West Virginia Division of Tourism’s mobile app that allows users to explore travel opportunities around the state.

The Division of Tourism isn’t just considering mobility in the technological sense, but also how to get people mobile, making West Virginia appealing out-of-state tourists.

“Our meat and potato markets are Pittsburgh, Columbus, Charlotte, Roanoke. Think of those states that are right beside us, that we would get a traveler to come for one or two or three days,” Goodwin said. “Our commercials run in those areas. We take out a lot of marketing pieces in publications that focus on particular areas of interest: biking, whitewater rafting, hiking, culinary arts.”

While Goodwin says the “meat and potatoes” markets lay outside the state, the bread and butter of West Virginia tourism lies in its many outdoor sporting and recreational activities.

“No other state can beat us on hiking, biking, whitewater rafting, fishing, and camping,” Goodwin said. “We’re really taking great opportunities with our marketing and advertising to show those real experiences. But on the other hand people aren’t coming to West Virginia to do just one thing. With our marketing and advertising we’re also doing a layered approach. It’s not just whitewater rafting, it’s dinner, maybe hitting up a craft beer facility, going to see a show, going to see Mountain Stage.”

Because the Real WV campaign is ongoing, there aren’t yet any hard numbers on the campaign’s impact. However, according to the 2014 Accountability and Image Study conducted by Longwood International, previous marketing campaigns for West Virginia Tourism have a return on investment of 7 to 1.

“Make no mistake about it, when you look at all these posters, we look like we’re the fun people in WV, but we’re the money people,” Goodwin said. “We employ 46,000 people throughout the state of WV and bring in $5.1 billion to the state of West Virginia. We’re a serious player.”

While Governor Tomblin has proposed yet another budget cut for state agencies, including Tourism, Goodwin says she’ll continue to work with lawmakers to educate them on the dollars her agency bring in to the state.

Courtesy Patrol Debated in the House

The Courtesy Patrol is a free roadside assistance service offered to those traveling through West Virginia. The program is within the Division of Tourism, as the patrol often helps visitors as they travel. It has a budget of four million dollars. In the House Wednesday, Delegates considered a senate passed bill that transfers the patrol to the Division of Highways, but allows Tourism to keep the money for state marketing campaigns. But the debate took a turn, as Republicans debated whether the courtesy patrol should even exist.

Senate Bill 581 relates to the transferring of the Courtesy Patrol from the Division of Tourism to the Division of Highways, eliminating requirement that moneys be transferred from the Tourism Promotion Fund to the Courtesy Patrol Fund. This would also specify how funds may be spent.

Delegate Michel Moffatt, a Republican from Putnam County, proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 581 that would do away with the Courtesy Patrol completely and have that four million dollars go toward West Virginia road maintenance.

While all Democratic Delegates were opposed to the amendment, the majority of Republicans were also.

Delegate Matthew Rohrbach of Cabell County visited the Courtesy Patrol’s website after Delegate Moffatt offered his amendment. He found that between November 1998 to the end of February 2015, the Courtesy Patrol has aided a lot of people.

“I’m gonna give you some statistics of the services that these folks have provided to the citizens of this state and to our visitors,” Rohrbach said, “They’ve assisted 292,000 vehicles, removed 18,000 pieces of debris, 8,500 deer carcasses, surprisingly 181 bears have been removed by the Courtesy Patrol as well as 3,900 other animal carcasses. They perform 14,000 procedural checks, and in total they’ve assisted 78,000 vehicles.”

Republican Bob Ashley of Roane County also opposed the amendment because he says it’s necessary for those who can’t afford assistance.

“I was here when we created the program in 1998. I remember when Governor Underwood put this program in to use the people from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, and that’s what we use,” noted Ashley, “We take the people who are on welfare who receives this assistance, and they, they get their training with West Virginia, and they do the service, and as the gentlemen from several places, several counties has talked, these people are then picked up by private, they’re trained, and they’re picked up by the companies of West Virginia.”

Republican Delegate Cindy Frich of Monogalia County, however, supported Moffat’s amendment to eliminate the courtesy patrol.

“I suspect that if the Delegate’s amendment were to succeed that perhaps there would be four million dollars more for perhaps road maintenance or some other sort of road repair, and then perhaps there’d be less people needing assistance on the roads and perhaps there’d be jobs created filling potholes,” Frich said.

Delegate Michael Ihle, a Republican from Jackson County, also supported the amendment, because he says the 4 million dollars might be better used if put toward sending Courtesy Patrol employees back in school.

“If we wanted too, we could take that four million dollars, split it up amongst the eighty people and give’em all each a fifty-thousand-dollar scholarship to go back to school,” Ihle explained, “To me, there are benefits from this program, but we have to weigh them versus the costs, and when you talk about fifty-thousand-dollars a person, I don’t know that we’re getting the return on our spending slash investment depending on which term you want to use. The math just doesn’t add up for me.”

By the end of the debate, Moffatt’s amendment was rejected 12 to 87. Senate Bill 581 will be on third reading Thursday.