Laura Meadows, director of the Upshur County Convention and Visitors Bureau, recently delivered an annual report on the past year's business to members of the Buckhannon City Council.
"I can't even begin to describe how much both I and the CVB have grown, learned and accomplished in the course of one short year," Meadows said during the regular Thursday night meeting.
"We feel comfortable in the statement that the CVB has become a vital part of the Upshur County and city of Buckhannon communities," she said.
This past year, more than 16,000 Upshur County travel guides were distributed throughout West Virginia and various other locations.
"We are still saturating the market at the moment," Meadows said.
There have been 5,320 visitors to the CVB's website in the past six months, coupled with the more than 23,000 visits to its social networking sites. This has generated quite a buzz about the area, Meadows said.
In the past year, the CVB has joined the West Virginia Association of CVBs and submitted a complete application to become an accredited convention and visitors bureau.
Meadows reported a net income of $175,851 from July 2011 through June 2012. Much of that income came as a result of the final judgment of legal action over the past CVB.
In the coming year, the CVB is going to partner with the West Virginia Wildlife Center to attract visitors to the unique destination.
Meadows said the group intends to continue to keep developing the positive relationships that already have been built with surrounding counties' CVBs.
"I am very pleased about how things are going and for what's going on," Buckhannon Mayor Kenny Davidson said.
Councilman Ron Pugh inquired about the effort it takes to maintain social networking sites, and Meadows said it is mainly just integrated into her daily schedule.
Meadows also noted that brochures could be changed between printings should any changes come up, in response to a question from Councilman Scott Preston.
More information about the CVB is available at www.visitupshur.org.
