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PA Wilds increasing tourism in the region |
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Written by Publisher
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Friday, 20 November 2009 |
The PA Wilds was the subject of a presentation given by Sam MacDonald, PA Wilds Community Outreach Specialist, and Ta Brant, the PA Wilds Small Business Ombudsman, last night at Lumberjacks.
MacDonald’s PowerPoint presentation focused on the PA Wilds Design Guide, which is a collection of suggestions and ideas for local businesses and communities to enhance their visual presence within the region.
“The PA Wilds Design Guide has some suggestions on the way things in the region can look or should look,” MacDonald said.
The Ridgway native discussed how the guide provides insight on architecture, landscaping, lights, signage and building placement in regards to working towards a more profitable tourism destination while maintaining the attributes of the community.
“The use of the design guide is voluntary,” MacDonald said. “It has suggestions in it. It has stuff that you can try to focus on and try to recreate.”
Brant discussed the PA Wilds initiative and gave an update on how far the tourism-based organization has come in the six years since its inception.
The PA Wilds is a region of northcentral Pennsylvania spanning from Scranton in the northeast part of Pennsylvania to Marienville in the western part of the state extending southward from the Pennsylvania-New York border to the central part of the state following Interstate 80.
The area covers 2.1 million acres of public land, which is about the size of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Brant also showed a map through a PowerPoint presentation that illustrated how the PA Wilds is within six hours drive of the cities of Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New York City and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Brant also showed the methods of advertising used in promoting the region, including ads that appeared in various national magazines and also billboards in New York City, Buffalo and Toronto, along with bus ads appearing in New York City and Toronto.
“The tourism industry has various numbers they look at and more people are coming to the region and we are able to charge more for our products and services and make more profit,” Brant said. “That is a good thing.”
The PA Wilds, developed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, along with cooperation from the Department of Community and Economic Development. DCNR has pumped more than $120 million into the infrastructure of the PA Wilds through signage and updating facilities. Among the projects currently being developed to attract tourists is the Elk County Visitors Center in Benezette and the Nature Inn in northern Centre County.
Brant also discussed the PA Wilds Resource Center, which provides assistance to communities to enhance their position for tourism within the region.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 December 2009 )
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