Submitted photo Anne Beardslee, executive director of the Elkins Randolph County Tourism, Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Elkins Depot Center addressed the Rotary Club of Elkins. Joining Beardslee is Rotary Club of Elkins President Phillips Kolsun.

ELKINS – Anne Beardslee, executive director of the Elkins Randolph County Tourism, Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Elkins Depot Welcome Center addressed the Rotary Club of Elkins, invited the public to attend the upcoming 16th Annual Ramps & Rails Festival on Saturday, April 25 at the Elkins Town Square.

Beardslee also shared information about the impact tourism has on Elkins and Randolph County.

This year’s festival will include a Friday evening collaborative event with the Tygart Hotel, which will be celebrating its second anniversary.

“They are throwing a big block party, did the same thing last year, most of us probably don’t remember because it poured down rain. They are going to have music from 5 to 11 p.m. They are having food, food trucks, games for kids, and the Interact Children’s Museum will be participating, so there will be a lot going on,” said Beardslee.

The Ramps & Rails Festival will feature 85 vendors, including craft and food vendors. The vendors will be spaced-out around the Depot Welcome Center, along Railroad Avenue in the vicinity of the depot and in the area of Third Street in front of the depot.

Additionally, the Durbin & Greenbrier Railroad will be featuring two train rides during the day, one at 11 a.m. and one at 1 p.m. These tend to sell out quickly, so all wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should purchase tickets ahead of the event.

The CVB is promoting the festival as a weekend event and encouraging those who attend to spend the weekend in Elkins.

“We are now promoting this as a weekend in Elkins. We’re not just promoting the Annual Ramps & Rails Festival, we’re promoting the block party because we want people here for two nights. If they’re coming from Clarksburg or Morgantown, we want them to come spend the night. We don’t want them to just pop in for the festival and go home,” Beardslee said.

In addition to the information about the festival, Beardslee shared data about the economic impact of tourism on Elkins and Randolph County.

“There are all kinds of tourism in Randolph County. Agrotourism is becoming the first new, big tourism in the last 25-30 years. Pumpkin farms, mazes, farm to table dinners, things like that are becoming more and more popular and the state of West Virginia is now promoting those events,” said Beardslee.

Tourism in West Virginia has increased by 24% since COVID, she said. The national average for states that are on the rise is 9% while a number of states are seeing a reduction in tourism. In 2024, $9.2 billion was spent on tourism in West Virginia.

“That means an average of $17 million a day and 77 million visitors in 2024. Over 61,000 jobs were created and $1.1 billion in tax revenue was generated,” added Beardslee.

The financial support for the CVB comes from the lodging tax that is collected in the county. Those funds allow the CVB to employ a Welcome Center director, a marketing director, a director of marketing and an AmeriCorps member.

“We are only allowed to spend 40% [of the funds received] on salaries. We must spend more than 40% on marketing and the rest can go to operations,” said Beardslee.

The funds that were spent on marketing ($175,000.00) provided print and digital marketing for the CVB. More than 39,000 brochures were distributed, advertisements appeared in more than 40 publications and more than $20,000 was distributed to local non-profit organizations to help promote events.

The CVB website had more than 321,000 page views and 780,000 impressions on social media and 6.1 million people were reached through social media posts.

“Hospitality is the one thing that probably makes the most difference in any community. If you go to the Greenbrier, everyone falls over themselves trying to help you, they’re all wonderful, it doesn’t matter what it is. If you go to a restaurant here and the waitress says, ‘Why in the heck would you want to move here?’ We had someone who was looking at a high-level job here, when the waitress said that, they stopped looking at houses and left because she was so negative about the area and what there is here,” said Beardslee. “The beauty of this place and what we have to offer people brings them here, but hospitality is the one thing that brings them back.”

The CVB offers classes in hospitality, working with businesses that need help with their hospitality training.

“The hospitality part of our job probably the most important thing that we do outside of marketing,” concluded Beardslee.

Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves.

Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club’s Facebook page – Rotary Club of Elkins – or contact 2025-2026 club president Phillips Kolsun at phillipskolsun@gmail.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.