Sep 20, 2025 By Garrett Neese 4 min read

Local counties benefited from increased economic impact from tourism in 2024, reflecting state trends, according to a new state report.

The Pennsylvania Tourism Office report released Tuesday showed the overall economic impact for Fayette, Greene and Washington counties had all risen.

One of the areas included in the overall impact was visitor spending, which rose in Fayette and Washington, but dropped slightly in Greene.

Visitors had a total economic impact of $83.9 billion across Pennsylvania, considering factors such as employment, state and federal taxes, and business sales. That was up nearly $7 billion from 2023.

Washington posted the highest total in business sales among the three-county area ($1.24 billion, a 5.4% increase), though Fayette ($1.22 billion, 10.6%) and Greene ($135.3 million, 0.7%) also saw jumps.

The total trends also played out when looking at visitor spending. At $776.2 million, Fayette County’s total was up 13.5% from 2023, more than three times the percentage increase seen by the state overall.

Muriel Johnson-Nuttall, executive director of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce, said she thinks the increases are driven by people choosing the Laurel Highlands area, and specifically Fayette County, for multi-day stays. When they stay longer, they naturally spend more on lodging, meals and experiences, she said.

“Outdoor recreation and cultural attractions are really popular right now, mostly, I think, driven by social media and a generational desire to share the history and heritage of our areas and enjoy healthy benefits,” she said.

Visitors are drawn to things such as the county’s seasonal festivals and places such as Ohiopyle State Park, which draws more than 1 million visitors a year, Nuttall said.

The county’s helped by its affordability and closeness to metropolitan areas, being less than 200 miles from Washington, D.C., Johnson-Nuttall said.

Visitors to Washington County spent $764.9 million in 2024. The 6.3% increase put it third in the greater Pittsburgh area behind Allegheny and Butler.

While the county’s never going to top Allegheny (more than $6.795 billion), it has been successful in partnering tourism assets together to see how they can complement each other, said Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

For a recent example, he pointed to the Pony League World Series, which took place in Washington at the same time as the Washington County Fair.

“Many of our international visitors have never been to a county fair, so we work with the county fair to market to those players and their families that when they’re not on the baseball diamond, they’re out enjoying the county fair and getting a good sense of something they don’t have in their own countries,” he said.

This year’s summer events either maintained last year’s attendance levels or grew, Kotula said.

He also projected increased numbers for upcoming fall events, such as this weekend’s Covered Bridge Festival or Oktoberfest, as people decide to spend more time locally.

The county’s sweet spot has been people looking for a weekend getaway, Kotula said, or what he described as a “one-tank-of-gas kind of a trip.”

“We try to model within the tri-state area, and go after those visitors to make sure that they’re coming to Washington County and spending a day or two,” he said.

Greene’s visitor spending dropped slightly by 0.7% to $82.4 million.

JoAnne Marshall, director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency, said she was happy with the county’s numbers overall. The decline in visitor spending corresponded with a down period for the oil and gas industry, she said, which has a direct effect on the number of people seeking lodging.

While hotel occupancy has still been down this year, attendance at the county’s larger events has actually been higher, Marshall said.

“We’re finally back to pre-pandemic levels,” she said. “We’re seeing more enthusiasm for various events, just more people willing to get out and enjoy things.”

The county varies its marketing depending on the event, Marshall said: targeting an older demographic for the Covered Bridge Festival, and a multi-generational outdoors audience for events such as the High Point National motocross races.

The NFL Draft is expected to bring an influx of people to the greater Pittsburgh area for 2026. Marshall said she hopes to capitalize by steering visitors to unique opportunities within the county, such as the Lippincott Alpaca Farm. Marketing for other organizations, that’s one of the rare times she’s seen a direct impact.

“People have seen our ad with their picture, and they have come here for that,” Marshall said.