Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Marlinton Town Council was joined at its meeting Monday evening by Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Chelsea Faulknier, who presented the CVB’s annual report.
Faulknier was out of town at a conference, so she joined council via Zoom and shared information about the past year regarding tourism numbers and promotions the CVB does to attract tourists to the area.
“The past year we’ve had a pretty successful year as far as continuing to enhance our partnerships and working with the Mon Forest Towns group and the Snowshoe Highlands Area Recreational Collaborative,” she said. “We’ve been able to collaborate efficiently to enhance our destination, and we’ve also been working with local programs, regional programs, state programs – most notably working with the Nature’s Mountain Classroom and Leave No Trace.”
Faulknier said that Hotel/ Motel tax revenue was up again this year with close to $2.7 million coming in for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. This was slightly higher than the record year the county saw in 2021-2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CVB noticed that there was a dip in action during the spring season, so it is focused on increasing promotions for that season, as well as summer and fall, to remind visitors there is something to do in every season in Pocahontas County.
“We have a full-fledged marketing campaign, working with Digital Relativity that continues to be really, really strong,” Faulknier said. “Last year alone, our marketing campaigns garnered 51 million impressions, and direct clicks onto our website were around 544,000, so we’ve been really good at getting our name out there.”
In other matters, council discussed and approved the following items:
• advertisement for the Town of Marlinton CDBG-MIT Storm Water Project Request for Proposals for legal services.
• advertisement for the Town of Marlinton CDBG-MIT Storm Water Project Request for Proposals for right-of-way services.
• Wastewater System Improvements Resolution #2.
• to have Mayor Sam Felton sign the resolution regarding the agreement of the Marlinton sidewalks Transportation Alternatives Project.
• set Trick or Treat and Trunk or Treat for Friday, October 31, from 5 to 7 p.m.
• to pursue establishing a pet cemetery at the Mountain View Cemetery.
Marlinton Town Council meets the first Monday of each month, excluding holidays, at 7 p.m. at the municipal building auditorium. The public is welcome to attend in person or through a Zoom link online.
