Butler County attractions, events draw visitors, dollars to the area
Tourism has become a leading industry in Butler County, with revenue having increased almost 1,000 percent since 2001.
Since 2001 when the county enacted a bed tax on travelers, annual revenues have increased from around $300,000 to about $2.8 million, according to Jack Cohen, Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau president.
“It continues to grow and that's just our bed tax revenue. That doesn't include restaurants, shopping, sporting events, museums and everyone that is generating tourism dollars,” he said.
Cohen said the bureau's long-range goal is to have a conference center in Cranberry Township to encourage more tourism and continue to increase revenues. The bureau is now awaiting research results to determine whether there is a need for such a center.
“We see the need. We run out of meeting space all the time and we need more space,” he said.
The bureau is also researching underserved areas and how places with growing populations can increase tourism revenues.
“Buffalo Township is a great example. The growth in that community is tremendous, but they have no hotel base. So someone who needs a hotel room has to either go to Butler or Cranberry. That's too far,” Cohen said.
“Lernerville Speedway averages 10,000 people on Friday nights. Where are they eating dinner? Where are they buying their gas? What else could complement that great raceway? We try to figure out how can we help maximize the return on investment,” he added.
Cohen said several factors have contributed to the county's success.
“Look at what's going on in our community. Look at Cranberry Township. Look at the Lemieux center. The growth of that facility and the things they're doing with tournaments are bringing in folks from across the globe,” he said.
“This community was based on family values. People wanted to go places where they have a comfort level. People will tell you that they will return here because of the way they're treated.”
To keep service at its best, the bureau recently started a Butler County Service Excellence Award program that will recognize quality service. It will provide training resources for businesses.“It's important for county businesses to strengthen their employees' customer service skills in order to enhance the overall Butler County experience,” Cohen said.Rich Hixon, UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex president, said he believes the diversity of attractions is what brings people here and each attraction complements the other.“There are a number of reasons why Butler County has become a destination. One is they have a great leadership that has a good vision for attracting people from outside the region to their communities and the communities have a lot to offer,” he said.“Some of the events like the Jeep Heritage Festival and the Mars New Year attract a lot of people to the community. So we try to partner with those groups from our end and create events that attract people to the complex, and while they're here they get to experience all that Butler County and Cranberry Township have to offer,” Hixon added.Last year, more than 700,000 people visited the Lemieux complex.“Some of the events we've had have had upwards of 2,000 room nights per event. For example, we had 36 teams here for USA Hockey's national championship. So you figure each team is booking somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 rooms just for the team and their families are here. If they're here for a five- or six-day period, they're spending a fairly significant time in the marketplace. They're playing their games here and enjoying the hotels and restaurants and everything else that Cranberry and Butler have to offer,” he said.The bureau developed a concierge booth at the Lemieux complex last fall to help visitors.“What we want to try to do is to provide a great experience not only in the complex but in the region while they're here. So if they're looking to book a team meal or a something special for the kids to do while there here, they've got the concierge service to make it real easy. They help coordinate all the logistics so that all they have to do is focus on just having fun,” Hixon said.Bill Landefeld, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott Pittsburgh North, agreed that the diversity of attractions and events is a draw.“I think our county has so much to offer for all walks of life,” Landefeld said. “More and more people are realizing how much the county has to offer.”Last year, the Courtyard ranked No. 1 for arrival experience, number two for staff service and number three for overall guest satisfaction out of 1,000 other Courtyards across the nation.“I think it's just that people around here love taking care of people and being genuine,” Landefeld said.“In other cities they may have great attractions, but maybe the service at the restaurants was no good. Or maybe they didn't get some great tips for some great things to do or the hotel wasn't as clean or it wasn't friendly.“So when you get the full package of excellent service from everybody, it really makes you want to go back to that area,” Landefeld added.
