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Message from the President

WPC and Partners Remove Dams by Hand to Protect Surrounding Landscape

Like-Minded Organizations Align to Protect Allegheny Watersheds

Six Community Gardens Win Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Awards

Partners Combine Efforts to Promote Tourism in the Southern Laurel Highlands

Pooling Resources to Protect Land around French Creek

Stopping a Significant Pollution Source at Little Mahoning Creek

Invest in a Gift That Gives Back to You and Supports WPC


 
Partners Combine Efforts to Promote Tourism in
the Southern Laurel Highlands

The southern Laurel Highlands offers more than its share of impressive tourist destinations. Fallingwater alone welcomes more than 145,000 people yearly, and these visitors occupy approximately 100,000 hotel rooms and generate close to $30 million in annual revenue for the Laurel Highlands. Within an hour’s drive of Fallingwater, one can bike on the breathtaking Great Allegheny Passage, paddle through Pennsylvania’s deepest gorge, drive on the nation’s first national highway, or experience the site of the French and Indian War’s first battle.

“You have it all here,” said Donna Holdorf, executive director for the National Road Heritage
Corridor. “It’s one of our region’s strongest benefits and one of our biggest challenges. How do you take that à la carte menu of destinations and convey the whole package to
someone who’s here to sample only one item?”

A group of like-minded leaders from nonprofit tourist destinations across the southern Laurel Highlands agreed with Holdorf that the best solution for meeting this challenge was to pool their collective resources. The potential payoff of their efforts is huge: Last year, the Laurel Highlands welcomed two million visitors who spent between $780 million and $1 billion and helped to create 24,000 tourism-related jobs in the region. Growing tourism in the southern Laurel Highlands would yield even greater economic benefits for the region.

The group, which calls itself “Cultivating Opportunities,” began meeting regularly last fall and
includes representatives from The Allegheny Trail Alliance, Fort Necessity, the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, National Road (Route 40), Ohiopyle State Park, the State
Theater in Uniontown and Fallingwater. Holdorf said the idea for the group emerged from a meeting she had with WPC’s Vice President and Director of Fallingwater, Lynda
Waggoner, who is now one of the participants.

“We were working on a project together and it became clear that we could become proactive in reaching the ‘single destination’ tourist if we met regularly and brought other
parties into the mix,” Holdorf said. “For example, almost two million people visit Ohiopyle State Park every year. How do you let those people know that Laurel Caverns is close by
if you’re looking for a scenic alternative on a rainy day? Or just down the road are two Frank Lloyd Wright homes and Fort Necessity.”

The “Cultivating Opportunities” group began to meet monthly before the start of the work day over breakfast. “It’s a very informal gathering that’s generated some very specific ideas on how to cross-market our region as a great place for an extended vacation,” said Lynda
Waggoner. “Our first project together was to develop a brochure that connected destinations by themes that could be experienced in a one, two or three day visit.”

The brochure, titled “Get Inspired,” offers a mixture of outdoor activities and heritage exploration found within a 25-mile radius in the southern Laurel Highlands. An outgrowth of the brochure can be found on the Fallingwater website (fallingwater.org) which presents seven distinct itineraries and features several southern Laurel Highlands destinations that fit together for a specifically targeted market:

  • Great Works of Art in the Laurel Highlands includes Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

  • The Wright Way features area homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and includes Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob and the Duncan House at Polymath Park.

  • Seven Springs details the many activities found at the mountain resort and invites guests to hike or bike along a portion of the nearby Great Allegheny Passage, a trail that extends from suburban Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Maryland.

  • Harmony with Nature includes a trip to the Christian W. Klay Winery, a journey along Scenic Route 381, and visits to Ohiopyle State Park and the Laurel Caverns.

  • An Area Rich in History showcases the National Road Heritage Corridor (Route 40), Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Fort Ligonier.

  • American Landmarks Getaway begins with the Historic Summit Inn and includes Fallingwater, Fort Necessity and the National Road Heritage Corridor.

  • Actors, Artists and Heroes includes the Green Gables Inn, Mountain Playhouse, the Flight 93 Memorial, Quecreek Mine Rescue site and dinner at the Coal Miner’s Cafè.

In addition to providing visitors with a deeper appreciation for the southern Laurel Highlands, the group is also working to educate residents about the unique charm of the place they call home.

“Education is very near and dear to our hearts,” said John Hallas, park manager for Ohiopyle State Park.“Many people who grew up here and work at our hotels take for granted how remarkable our region is. We want to educate people to help us get
the word out.”

For more information about the ”Get Inspired” program or any of these southern Laurel Highlands destinations, visit fallingwater.org.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter 2008 Conserve  |  Western Pennsylvania Conservancy  |  Fallingwater