Tourism agency touts $804M in visitor spending in Washington County
The Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency is touting a record $804.5 million in visitor spending last year just days after its monthly funding payments from the county were halted following a disagreement with the commissioners over the amount of information included in its audit.
The annual travel report just published by the state Department of Community and Economic Development and VisitPA showed that Washington County finished fourth in visitor spending in the 11-county region of Western Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County led the region in visitor spending with $7.3 billion, and was followed by Westmoreland County with $923.4 million and Fayette County, which generated $905 million in tourism dollars. Greene County finished at the bottom of the region with $79.6 million in spending.
Visitor spending in Washington County increased by more than 5% over 2024 when tourism generated $764.9 million in revenue, and has gone up about 35% in the last five years as the region exited the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the DCED report.
“Reaching over $800 million in visitor spending is a significant milestone for Washington County’s tourism efforts and further demonstrates that this industry is an important piece of our local economy,” said Jeff Kotula, who is president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Promotion Agency. “It also illustrates that our strategy to promote our exciting county in partnership with our local hotels, event operators, attractions and municipalities is attracting visitors, growing our economy, and creating jobs for our residents.”
The announcement Tuesday about the amount of tourism spending in Washington County comes in the wake of the commissioners voting last week to pause sending monthly hotel tax revenue payments to the tourism agency. Commissioners Nick Sherman and Electra Janis voted in favor of stopping payments while Commissioner Larry Maggi voted against the motion during Thursday’s county meeting.
Sherman said during the meeting he wanted to stop payments because he wanted to receive more financial information provided by the tourism agency beyond the annual audit that is required. Before the split vote, Sherman cited section 17507 subsection F of the hotel room rental tax for fourth-class counties that he said gives the commissioners discretion in what the audit should contain.
“An audited report or financial statement, as determined by the county in consultation with the recognized tourist promotion agency, on the income and expenditures incurred by a recognized tourist promotion agency receiving any revenues from the tax authorized under this section shall be submitted annually by the recognized tourist promotion agency to the county commissioners,” the statute reads.
Kotula previously said tourism agency officials were willing to meet with the commissioners and have an independent party facilitate a discussion to see what other information should be provided. No meeting has occurred, and Sherman said last week the annual audit as it has been submitted in recent years is not sufficient.
Sherman and Janis directed county Treasurer Tom Flickinger to halt monthly payments of the nearly annual $2.5 million in hotel tax revenue earmarked for the tourism agency, and instead place that money in a special fund until the situation is resolved. Immediately following the vote, Flickinger said he intended to consult with his row office’s solicitor, Lane Turturice, before making a final decision on whether to halt the next payment that was due last Friday.
But on Friday, Flickinger said he would be following the wishes of the commissioners after speaking to Turturice and reading the Pennsylvania County Code.
“Overall, the commissioners are responsible for all taxes collected and expenses and have a responsibility to the taxpayers that all monies collected and spent are accounted for by the county,” Flickinger said in a written statement. “Full transparency in this age of fraud and mismanagement is required to instill trust and accountability of taxpayers’ funds.”
It was not immediately known whether the tourism agency might take legal action against the county over the withheld payments or continue pursuing a meeting with a facilitator. In his written statement Tuesday, Kotula instead focused on the economic impact tourism is having in Washington County with increasing revenue being generated by visitors to the county.
“The strength of Washington County’s economy is in its diversity, and our focus on developing the visitor economy contributes to this overall economic success,” Kotula said. “This study once again demonstrates that the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency and our tourism partners are achieving continued positive growth of the tourism economy and the jobs that support it.”