CHARLESTON, WV – Since taking office in 2017, Gov. Jim Justice has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s tourism efforts. These investments have changed West Virginia’s image in major, unprecedented ways, and we are now reaping the rewards of promoting our state to the world for the first time ever.
Today, as a result of these historic investments, Gov. Justice announced that the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System sold nearly 95,000 trail permits in 2021, which represents the highest number of annual permits ever sold in a single year and the system’s 21st consecutive year of growth in ridership. Permit sales saw a 46% lift over 2020 sales and 68% over 2019 sales. The growth the trail system experienced in 2021 alone is more than the first 10 years combined.
This historic ridership increase follows a series of forward-thinking decisions made by Gov. Justice and his administration that have caused tourism and interest in West Virginia to explode to never-before-seen levels.
Prior to Gov. Justice taking office, the state had seen four consecutive years of decline in traveler spending. Upon taking office, Gov. Justice immediately appointed Chelsea Ruby as Tourism Commissioner. The state’s tourism marketing budget was then tripled and the research-based “Almost Heaven” campaign was launched in early 2018. Since then, the state has seen incredible gains across the board. In the three years following the campaign’s launch, annual traveler spending in the state grew by more than $611 million, reversing the historic decline seen in the previous four years.
“I’ve been saying since my first day in office that we have to tell our state’s story. We’re doing just that and it’s working,” Gov. Justice said. “West Virginia is a world-class, four-season travel destination, and thanks to our investments in tourism, we are seeing the benefits firsthand.
“Southern West Virginia especially is reaping the benefits of our investments. During the summer, this part of our state is absolutely full of Hatfield-McCoy riders. They’re buying gas, staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, and contributing to our economy in a major way. However, we also know that these riders are also doing something more significant: they’re falling in love with West Virginia.
“That’s why I am totally committed to furthering this incredible prosperity in southern West Virginia, and why finishing projects like the Coalfields Expressway and the King Coal Highway are two of my top priorities. For centuries, southern West Virginia has been an energy powerhouse, providing our nation with the coal needed for reliable energy. Because of this sacrifice, I wholeheartedly believe that this region deserves all the goodness we can send their way.”
“What Gov. Justice has done for tourism in West Virginia will be remembered for generations to come as a defining moment in our state’s history, when the outside world finally realized that West Virginia truly is ‘Almost Heaven’ and when people within our borders had their sense of pride in their home state reinvigorated,” said Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Tourism Chelsea Ruby.
“West Virginia’s historic growth in tourism isn’t limited to the Hatfield-McCoy Trail,” Secretary Ruby continued. “Last year, whitewater rafting trips were up 26% and skier lift ticket sales were up 37%. 2021 also marked the highest hunting and fishing license sales in more than 20 years. Today, there are more than 200 cabin or RV sites under construction or in design in the southern coalfields as a direct result of this newfound popularity. Under the Governor’s leadership, the world is taking notice of the unbelievable outdoor recreation found among the West Virginia hills.”
“Thanks to Gov. Justice’s passion for southern West Virginia and the new and returning riders on the trails, we are incredibly optimistic about what’s to come,” said Jeffrey Lusk, Executive Director of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority. “Each year, we are just in awe of the trail system’s growing popularity and the way this area continues to expand with it. This popularity is without-a-doubt a direct result of the investments made by the Justice Administration in tourism and by changing the image of West Virginia to the rest of the nation and the world.”
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System welcomed more than 29,500 new riders to the trail system in 2021. More than 80% of total sales were to non-West Virginia residents, with both resident and non-resident ridership growing for the year.
In March 2021, the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System added two more trail systems and two more counties to its already successful trail network: the Ivy Branch and Cabwaylingo trail systems in Lincoln and Wayne counties. These new systems have pushed the trails to more than 1,000 miles of off-road adventure riding for ATVs, UTVs, ORVs, and off-road motorcycles.
The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System is one of the largest off-road vehicle trail systems in the world. Open 365 days a year, the trail system is a four-season travel and tourism destination that connects ATV-friendly towns across the southern coalfields.
To learn more about the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System, visit trailsheaven.com or WVtourism.com.
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Under Gov. Justice’s leadership, West Virginia continues to enjoy an unprecedented era of success and prosperity.
People are more excited than ever to be in West Virginia. From April 2010 to July 2019, more than 43,000 people moved out of the state. However, from 2020 through 2021, net migration is up in West Virginia for the first time in decades, with over 2,000 people moving into our state, making West Virginia one of the top states in the entire nation that people are moving into on a percentage basis. A recent study found that West Virginia was tied with South Carolina for the top inbound states in 2021. 2021 was the first year West Virginia even made the list.
Additionally, increased investments in the state’s tourism efforts have visitation and intrigue in West Virginia through the roof. Earlier this year, West Virginia was named a top-10 travel region in the world to visit by Lonely Planet; the only state to earn this prestigious distinction. The state was also tapped as a top destination for 2022 by Condé Nast Traveler, Frommers, USA Today and the Huffington Post, in addition to being dubbed one of the World’s Greatest Places by TIME. The state was the only destination to make all of these coveted lists.
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