Gov. Justice ties bow on tourism record at camp groundbreaking

Apr. 26—MORGANTOWN — State officials broke ground on a new RV area at Mylan Park in Morgantown on Wednesday. It's part of a continuing push to increase tourism to West Virginia.

"You look at the overall economic impact of tourism in West Virginia, we now exceed $7 billion annually," Chelsea Ruby, secretary of tourism, said. "These tourism establishments employ more than 50,000 people and generate more than $2 billion in annual wages. So, tourism is big business in West Virginia and we're only continuing to see that grow and grow."

Gov. Jim Justice headlined the event. He is currently running for U.S. Senate and collected praise for his record on tourism from various government and elected officials present for the groundbreaking. Baby Dog continued her absence by the governor's side.

The site will be a new KOA Campground. The franchise is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. On Wednesday, 40 RVs sat in the park's parking lot. Once completed the campground will service up to 140 RVs.

"So people traveling in RVs east and west across the country are going to see one more destination show up on the map as a place where they can stop and stay and participate in activities in our community, spend money in our restaurants and gas stations," state Sen. Mike Oliverio said. "So, it's a great opportunity for our community."

Although the event was about celebrating the campground, Ruby and other officials focused on the work done by the state to build outdoor recreation infrastructure throughout West Virginia.

"Tourism touches every single county in the state of West Virginia," Moore Capito, candidate for governor, said. "Whether it's whitewater rafting or rock climbing. Or it's taking tours on the Hatfield and McCoy Trails. It's a combined and collaborative effort that we've done as a state to make sure that folks that come to West Virginia know everything that's out there."

Oliverio added the state's natural beauty was an easy way to generate economic activity. He said West Virginians have been trained their whole life to be friendly to people, making residents ideal workers for the tourism industry.

Oliverio said the state Legislature is trying to attract tourists from markets like New York and Washington, D.C., by investing money in ad campaigns to draw them to West Virginia. However, capitalizing on tourists takes more than slick ad campaigns.

"We have the natural resources," Oliverio said. "We just didn't have the services to support that."

When the Legislature approved funding for the Hatfield-McCoy Trail, Oliverio said the private sector built out the restaurants and amenities to support people who came to enjoy the state's natural resources. Other recreation industries like skiing and whitewater rafting added additional things for tourists to enjoy.

By developing the infrastructure adjacent to things like trails and rivers, state residents benefit economically while at the same time giving visitors a reason to come to West Virginia.

"We didn't grow any mountains, we didn't grow any rivers," Oliverio said. "We just made it easier for people to take advantage of them."

Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com