History

The roots of the Warren County Visitors Bureau actually began as the Kinzua Dam Visitors Bureau under the helm of legendary local radio personality LeRoy Schneck in 1968, just 3 years after the completion of the Kinzua Dam in an effort to attract visitors to the new reservoir. By 2003, the KDVB began doing business as the Northern Alleghenies Vacation Region with an office located on PA Avenue in Warren. The NAVR moved to the Route 6 location upon completion of the building in 2004. Shortly afterwards, the name was changed to the Warren County Visitors Bureau. The Warren County Visitors Bureau was officially recognized as the county's Tourist Promotion Agency in 2013.

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Promotions

As the county's official Destination Marketing Organization (Tourism Promotion Agency), we have the wonderful task of showing the world how awesome Warren County is! This means we select, create, and fund a wide variety of ads and promotions from print to digital to public relations to just about anything else you can think of. Much time, work, thought,and research goes into the selection of ads by conducting and locating surveys, digital tracking, and working with businesses to see who is coming to the area and why. Using those numbers, we select the ads that will best target the proper demographic. We are proud community event sponsors and attend many expos promoting Warren County and its spectacular assets. Our lobby is stocked with brochures and maps from local businesses, attractions, hotels, restaurants, and activities, as well as ones we create such as a dining guide, Gateway Arch brochure, and the annual Warren County Exploration Guide.

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Daily Operations

The Warren County Visitors Bureau receives calls, emails, and messages from across the country and even around the world daily from people wanting information on the area. We send promotional works to other TPAs, rest areas, distribution centers, tourist attractions, and individuals while catering to their own interests. Visitors and locals alike stop in frequently to get maps, brochures, and recommendations. There is never a boring day here! The WCVB also maintains the area's most comprehensive and up-to-date calendar of events which can be found on our website.

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Funding

Many are surprised to hear that the Warren County Visitors Bureau receives NO funding from federal, state, or local taxes. Rather, we are primarily funded by the occupancy/hotel tax that visitors pay while staying in lodging establishments and secondarily funded by memberships of local businesses.

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Networking

It is the intent of the Warren County Visitors Bureau to network both inside and outside of the county. The WCVB makes a point to visit towns, businesses, attractions, festivals, events, and community meetings so that we can learn as much as we can about the area in order to be informed promoters. We also want to show support to the communities and work with them to highlight their assets. In addition to paid promotions, the Warren County Visitors Bureau is involved with many other organizations outside of the county including PA Route 6 Alliance, Lumber Heritage Region, Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, PA Wilds, Northwest Commission, Allegheny National Forest, Allegheny Forest Alliance, and more. These collaborations improve us as an organization and aid us in our efforts to promote Warren County as the ideal place to find your adventure, find your peace.