31-01-2025
Happy Valley Adventure Bureau sees ‘record' year, looks to 2025
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau is saying 2024 was a record year for tourism – but where will that extra revenue go?
There are several ways to measure tourism, with hotels being the heavy hitters.
'One of the metrics that we score is hotel room stays because that's money that stays within the county through the hotels,' Director of the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance Eric Engelbarts said.
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According to the adventure bureau, it saw a roughly 8% increase in hotel revenue. VP of Sales and Marketing Dave Gerdes says that Centre County was ranked 11 across Pa., and three years ago, they were at rank 17 – indicating significant growth.
'It was a record hotel year for Centre County,' Gerdes said. 'Everybody benefits from that. All of our neighbors benefit from that. When Centre County is doing well, the neighbors do well also.'
The HVAB collects money from a hotel tax that every visitor pays. Engelbarts says they take the money and 'market the county again and continue to bring those visitors in.' They also have plans to improve 2025 by focusing more on winter events like the upcoming Comic Con and enhancing already popular events like Arts Fest with more concerts.
Ultimately, Gerdes says they want to keep their 'foot on the pedal' and continue to bring in new tourists.
'You got to keep telling people what's going on, because as soon as you slip, one of your neighbors or somebody in a neighboring state is going to gobble them up,' Gerdes said.
To see the latest events coming to Happy Valley, visit the adventure bureau's website.
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