MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — If you are interested in learning more about West Virginia Tourism, The Mountaineer Country Tourism Summit might just be for you.

Held on Tuesday by the Mountaineer Country Tourism Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, the conference ran for two days and hosted tourism partners from the seven-county Mountaineer Country region. Those in attendance had the chance to hear hospitality and tourism experts speak on customer service, transportation, sports tourism and much more.

Susan Riddle, President and CEO of Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors’ Bureau said: “We had several panels of experts in different fields. We’ve had things, discussions like wave finding, funding, grant funding. Our secretary Ruby came into town, and she presented to us all the different opportunities that individuals can use, benefits that they can get through the state tourism department,” said Susan Riddle, President and CEO of Visit Mountaineer Country CVB. Riddle went on to say, “I know this Thursday they are opening their West Virginia co-op advertising for the fall and winter session so that’s an opportunity. We talked about grant funding and signage, all kinds of things. So, I think everyone here would be hard pressed to not walk away with at least two or three things that they can take away and put into action.”

According to Riddle, the theme of this year’s convention was “Selling Mountaineer Country, we connect the dots.”  

“The whole theme of the conference has been selling Mountaineer Country, we connect the dots in order to sell Mountaineer country. So, we need our tourism partners, we need our local community, and we need to sell Mountaineer Country together and by doing that, we drive the tourism economy in our destination and therefore our local community ends up benefiting from additional resources,” said Riddle.

This was the first time the Mountaineer Country Tourism Convention and Visitors’ Bureau has held this summit, and they hope to do so again next year. For more information on the Mountaineer Country Tourism Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, click here.