By: Lydia Crawley The Parsons Advocate
Executive Director for the Tucker County Convention and Visitors Bureau Jessica Waldo met with civic representatives across the County to present the CVB Annual Report. Waldo over the past few weeks has met with representatives of the City of Parsons, the Tucker County Commission and Town of Davis about the report and the impact tourism has had on the County over the past year.
Waldo said that the County saw a decrease in the Spring. Waldo attributed some of it to collection, but the data was supported by Key Data, a service the CVB hires to track short term rentals that confirmed the drop in sales during the Spring season in 2024. “Last year was the first year we saw a decrease, 2024 was the first time we saw a decrease in Spring,” Waldo said. “Winter seems to be doing well. Last summer, Fall, everything was fine.”
Hotel/Motel Tax revenue for the 2024 year was down slightly from 2023, according to CVB data. The data showed that in 2023, Tucker County saw Hotel/Motel revenue in the amount of $531,910 and in 2024 a slight drop to $498,388.
“If a season had to be down, I wouldn’t want any other season other than Spring,” Waldo said.
2024 was also the first year that in-state travel was not the top visitors to Tucker County. In 2024, North Carolina was first, followed by Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Florida and then West Virginia visitors followed by Maryland and Illinois. The top cities for visitors to Tucker County in 2024 were Ashburn, followed by New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington.
The CVB is a seven member board non profit that supports the growth of tourism in Tucker County. Most of the CVB’s budget is spent on advertising with 73% spent on advertising in 2024.
The CVB’s website hosts business and event listings that are free to update and Waldo encourages businesses and organizations to add their events and listings to the site free of charge. “We’re really trying to stress that if your business isn’t listed and we missed it, to please go on there,” Waldo said. “If something is wrong, I have also had people go on there and correct their listings.”
The CVB also offers Marketing and Tourism Sponsorships to Tucker County Businesses and Organizations. In 2024, the CVB provided nearly $20,000 in Marketing sponsorships and $4,000 in Tourism sponsorships to local businesses and organizations.
The CVB visitor’s center in Davis is also UPS dropoff center. Waldo said the office does not have the capability to print labels, but UPS stops by every day to pick up packages.
The Tucker County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau is available online at gettuckered.com, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
