Tourism video highlights the 'Real' West Virginia

PHILIPPI — West Virginia Tourism Commissioner Amy Schuler Goodwin and video producer Robert Tinnell, of Allegheny Image Factory, visited Adaland Mansion Thursday as part of a tourism community gathering to celebrate the completion of a new marketing video aimed at propelling the historic Barbour County tourist destination into the digital age.

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The campaign was a byproduct of an 'Image and Advertising Accountability Research Study' spearheaded by the Division of Tourism under Goodwin, and was then conducted by Longwoods International.

'We developed a new logo, a new web portal and created fresh content showcasing real people and authentic experiences,' she explained. 'We achieved this by traveling across the state to film engaging videos and build a library of compelling new photos.'

'By creating fresh content we were able to develop and put into action a social media strategy, and was able to achieve these successes because we took time to recognize the critical role research, data collection, measurement and tracking play in effectively marketing the Mountain State as a world-class destination.'

According to the 2015 Annual Report for the West Virginia Division of Tourism, which was used to lobby for additional marketing funds for tourism in West Virginia, tourism is a 'near $5 billion economy which supports 46,000 jobs,' and said Goodwin, '$16 million of that is Barbour County and that economy supports 150 jobs in this county.'

'Ours was the only budget that was not cut, but increased this year,' she noted. 'We had the facts and the data to prove that tourism is a good return on investment.'

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