Partners Combine Efforts to Promote Tourism in
the Southern Laurel Highlands
The southern Laurel Highlands offers more than its share of impressive tourist destinations. Fallingwater alone welcomes more than 145,000 people yearly, and these visitors occupy approximately 100,000 hotel rooms and generate close to $30 million in annual revenue for the Laurel Highlands. Within an hour’s drive of Fallingwater, one can bike on the breathtaking Great Allegheny Passage, paddle through Pennsylvania’s deepest gorge, drive on the nation’s first national highway, or experience the site of the French and Indian War’s first battle.
“You have it all
here,” said Donna
Holdorf, executive
director for the National Road Heritage
Corridor. “It’s one of our region’s
strongest benefits and one of our
biggest challenges. How do you take
that à la carte menu of destinations
and convey the whole package to
someone who’s here to sample only
one item?”
A group of like-minded leaders
from nonprofit tourist destinations
across the southern Laurel Highlands
agreed with Holdorf that the best
solution for meeting this challenge
was to pool their collective resources.
The potential payoff of their efforts is
huge: Last year, the Laurel Highlands
welcomed two million visitors who
spent between $780 million and $1
billion and helped to create 24,000
tourism-related jobs in the region.
Growing tourism in the southern
Laurel Highlands would yield
even greater economic benefits for
the region.
The group, which calls itself “Cultivating Opportunities,” began
meeting regularly last fall and
includes representatives from The
Allegheny Trail Alliance, Fort Necessity,
the Laurel Highlands Visitors
Bureau, National Road (Route 40),
Ohiopyle State Park, the State
Theater in Uniontown and
Fallingwater. Holdorf said the idea for
the group emerged from a meeting
she had with WPC’s Vice President
and Director of Fallingwater, Lynda
Waggoner, who is now one of the
participants.
“We were working on a project
together and it became clear that we
could become proactive in reaching
the ‘single destination’ tourist if we
met regularly and brought other
parties into the mix,” Holdorf said. “For example, almost two million
people visit Ohiopyle State Park every
year. How do you let those people
know that Laurel Caverns is close by
if you’re looking for a scenic alternative
on a rainy day? Or just down the
road are two Frank Lloyd Wright
homes and Fort Necessity.”
The “Cultivating Opportunities”
group began to meet monthly before
the start of the work day over
breakfast. “It’s a very informal
gathering that’s generated some very
specific ideas on how to cross-market
our region as a great place for an
extended vacation,” said Lynda
Waggoner. “Our first project together
was to develop a brochure that
connected destinations by themes
that could be experienced in a one,
two or three day visit.”
The brochure, titled “Get Inspired,”
offers a mixture of outdoor activities
and heritage exploration found within
a 25-mile radius in
the southern Laurel
Highlands. An
outgrowth of the
brochure can be found
on the Fallingwater
website (fallingwater.org)
which presents seven
distinct itineraries and
features several southern
Laurel Highlands
destinations that fit
together for a specifically
targeted market:
- Great Works of Art in
the Laurel Highlands includes Fallingwater,
Kentuck Knob, the
Southern Alleghenies
Museum of Art and
the Westmoreland Museum of
American Art.
- The Wright Way features area
homes designed by Frank Lloyd
Wright and includes Fallingwater,
Kentuck Knob and the Duncan
House at Polymath Park.
- Seven Springs details the many
activities found at the mountain
resort and invites guests to hike
or bike along a portion of the
nearby Great Allegheny Passage,
a trail that extends from suburban
Pittsburgh to Cumberland,
Maryland.
- Harmony with Nature includes a
trip to the Christian W. Klay
Winery, a journey along Scenic
Route 381, and visits to Ohiopyle
State Park and the Laurel Caverns.
- An Area Rich in History showcases the National Road
Heritage Corridor (Route 40), Fort
Necessity National Battlefield and
Fort Ligonier.
- American Landmarks Getaway begins with the Historic Summit
Inn and includes Fallingwater, Fort
Necessity and the National Road
Heritage Corridor.
- Actors, Artists and Heroes includes the Green Gables Inn,
Mountain Playhouse, the Flight
93 Memorial, Quecreek Mine
Rescue site and dinner at the Coal
Miner’s Cafè.
In addition to providing visitors with a deeper appreciation for the southern Laurel Highlands, the group is also working to educate residents about the unique charm of the place they call home.
“Education is very near and dear to
our hearts,” said John Hallas, park
manager for Ohiopyle State Park.“Many people who grew up here and
work at our hotels take for granted
how remarkable our region is. We
want to educate people to help us get
the word out.”
For more information about the ”Get Inspired” program or any of these southern Laurel Highlands destinations, visit fallingwater.org.
Winter 2008 Conserve | Western Pennsylvania Conservancy | Fallingwater