FY 2022/23 Highlights
President/CEO Message
VisitMercerCountyPA is the marketing leader for the travel and tourism industry in Mercer County with the goal to expand and strengthen travel and tourism and enhance the overall economy of Mercer County. Mercer County Tourism started fiscal year 2022/23 with still a lot of uncertainty. Most of our members were experiencing staff shortages and many had to shorten their hours of operation. Our major international market, Southern Ontario Canada was slow to open the border without restrictions. Some supply issues remained, and inflation continued to grow. However, our industry was resilient and resourceful, and travelers were ready to get on the road. FY 2022/23 became a record year. Hotel booking for weddings, reunions, sports travel and fun experiences soared. Hotel excise tax receipts outpaced FY 21 by over 14%. Inflation of course played a role in this increase, but pent-up demand was also strong. We are seeing signs of recovery in Mercer County. Hotel Excise Tax:
FY 2022/23 $1,117,945.00 FY 2021/22 $975,290.00 FY 2020/21 $619,850.00 FY 2019/20 $932,176.00
Lake to Lake Paddle Challenge Our industry continues to face challenges with increased costs, staff shortages and a low Canadian exchange rate where Canadians only receive .75 cents on our dollar. Our Canadian visits probably won’t return to pre pandemic levels until this exchange rate improves. However, we have positioned ourselves to meet these challenges. We have in place numerous opportunities for collaborations with our members, business partners and local communities to develop the tourism economy. Programs such as a strong online presence, co-op advertising, tourism attraction development grant, festival marketing grant and major project initiatives will help Mercer County’s tourism industry grow.
SkyDive Fest
Thank you to all our members and partners for their continued dedication and commitment to the tourism industry’s future success.
During the year we continued our online campaigns including Web tracker, Google, Facebook, Instagram, native content advertising, Over the Top TV, email blasts, videos on YouTube/our website and others. According to TripAdvisor, “86% of travelers use online resources to make travel decisions.” We felt it was important for Mercer County to invest a significant portion of the budget in online marketing. We also instituted new initiatives to bring attention to Mercer County attractions, including a successful 30-mile race on the Shenango River, a Skydive Fest, increased marketing of the Wine & Brew Trail and the Underground Railroad Tour that sold out within one hour. Outdoor adventure and golf also generated a huge number of requests this year. In addition thanks to the owners of the Olympic Fun Center, the Hermitage area of Mercer County is host to the 2023 U.S. Skating Championships. This event is bringing thousands of visitors from all over the country to our area.
Tri-State PGA: Mercer County Tourism Pro-Am