More than a month after the nation watched videos of burning homes floating down flooded roadways in White Sulphur Springs, the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau wants everyone to know that the county is back open for business.
The visitors bureau, which is responsible for promoting tourism in the county, is asking the Greenbrier County Commission to provide the organization with $450,000 to help fund a new marketing plan to get people to return to the recovering region.
Kara Dense, the executive director of the visitors bureau, said a marketing campaign is desperately needed to help the scenic county bring back the tourism industry, which is the largest employer and economic driver in the area.
The summer months are usually the busiest time of the year for hotels, restaurants and The Greenbrier resort - the county's largest employer - Dense said. But in past weeks, many local businesses have seen a 40 percent drop in revenue from average levels this time of year, she said.
The plan that the group is organizing will include traditional marketing, digital advertisements and a social media campaign. It will be essential, Dense said, to getting tourists back in the hotels and more "feet on the streets."
"We are really worried about the future," Dense said. "It won't make a huge difference right now, but it could affect booking the future."
The bureau has been working to get a $450,000 transfer in funds approved, but it will be up to the county commission on Tuesday whether that deal goes through.
The county, Dense said, currently has $2.7 million in additional funds set aside from the county hotel tax that it splits with the visitors bureau every year.
If the money is appropriated for the marketing campaign, the county is asking that the visitors bureau pay the county back at a later point.
"We believe it is incumbent on them to give us these funds," she said. "In Greenbrier County tourism is the economy."
In recent weeks, Dense has heard stories of restaurant workers being laid off due to the decrease in customers, and at the Greenbrier, she said some workers are not working full time.
Dense has a simple message for anyone who wanted to help the region after the flooding: "The best thing you could do for Greenbrier County is come here and visit."
Reach Andrew Brown at
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