The Oil Region’s beautiful outdoors stands out by itself — and combined with events and competitions that bring in crowds of people, it continued to shine as a primary tourism draw to the area over the past year.
“Outdoor recreation competitions continue to be huge for us,” said Emily Altomare, communications and tourism manager at the Oil Region Alliance of Tourism, Business and Industry (ORA). “People love to come here to run or ride the trails and fish.”
All-terrain vehicles could soon be added to the list of popular recreational assets, as a countywide effort to legalize ATVs on designated municipal roads is currently in full swing, following in the tracks of an ATV feasibility study the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism completed in fall 2023.
As the state’s Designated Destination Marketing Association (DMA) — essentially, tourism promotion agency — for Venango County, the ORA helps expand and market locally held competitions, from bike races to Jeep runs to archery tournaments.
ORA Communications and Tourism Manager Emily Altomare said competitions often bring participants several times during the year to train, and they in turn bring family and friends to see the sights, dine and shop locally, and share their experiences on social media.
Last year’s Rock in River Fest stone-skipping competition brought competitors from as far as Japan, not for the first time.
And more events keep coming. For instance, in September for the first time, the Kayak Adventure Series’ Broodstock II fishing competition will come to Franklin for a weekend.
Competitors will fish waters within a one-hour radius of Franklin, and events will be held downtown, Altomare said.
Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jodi Lewis agreed as far as drawing visitors, “the biggest thing in this area is the outdoors. The trails, hiking, bicycling...mountain biking...they are bringing in a whole slew of people that maybe aren’t as familiar with the area.
“And I want to say from my observation, it’s an increase.”
One extra natural wonder in 2024 was the April 8 total solar eclipse.
“We had a ton of people come through our region, either as their final viewing spot or on their way to Erie and other locations in the path of totality,” Altomare said.
Meanwhile, local festivals continued to draw crowds — the Franklin Fine Arts Council hosted 65 events alone in 2024, Altomare said, citing Franklin Events and Marketing Coordinator James Shreffler.
Lewis called events the second-biggest draw next to the area’s natural resources — not just those in Franklin, but across the area.
But Lewis also highlighted the music, art, restaurants, history, museums and architecture that are plentiful throughout the area.
Then there’s heritage tourism, which attracts visitors to the museums and historical features in the Oil Region, a National Heritage Area, Altomare said.
Rise of homeshares
Altomare estimated hotel attendance is at or above pandemic numbers, although hotel revenues are down this year due to last year’s loss of the Barkeyville Quality Inn to make way for the new Sheetz.
“That hotel alone contributed approximately $20,000 a year in hotel tax, so losing it has negatively impacted our hotel tax,” she said. Part of the county’s hotel tax goes to the ORA to market the region. More “homeshares” are springing up, such as AirBNBs and VRBO residences, but not enough to make up for the loss of the hotel.
But Altomare expressed hope that more development in Oil City or Barkeyville could eventually make up for the loss, and the increase of homeshares still means an increase in tourism traffic.
In October, the ORA held a homeshare education event, which it plans to hold annually, for current and potential AirBnB, VRBO or homeshare property owners, as well as owners of traditional bed and breakfasts.
The same month, it held a second annual “Realtor Roundtable” event to connect local real estate professionals with tourism entities and the ORA’s tourism council.
Susan Williams, executive director of the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is “excited” to see more AirBNBs and short-term rentals, but noted a lack of traditional hotel accommodations.
In order to attract developers of larger-scale hotels, “you’ve got to be able to show that you have people coming,” she said. “So it’s a chicken-and-egg situation.”
The chamber’s job, she said, is to make sure business owners are successful, part of which is trying to create year-round traffic from more than just events.
“It’s important that the community understands...that we give people a great experience and they want to come back all the time, not just when there are events and not just when the weather is nice,” Williams said.
With that in mind, the chamber holds ambassador trainings for local businesses and community groups to give them knowledge of the area and to create a welcoming community that people want to visit and revisit.
“If people come into the community and feel welcomed, they’re more likely to come back,” Williams explained.
Creating a sense of community pride and identity is a major goal of the chamber’s Community Heart and Soul program, as well.
“The hospitality industry, including outdoor rec, is a huge part of quality of life and that’s a major selling feature for real estate in our region, especially for those moving in from out of the area,” Altomare said.
Tourism and community-building
Williams emphasized creating a place that people want to visit has repercussions beyond tourism revenues.
“It’s not only important to bringing outside dollars in; it’s important for creating communities where people want to live,” she said, noting a community pleasant to visitors tends to be more attractive to live in, as well.
In turn, more people living in the area means more to work in the area or start local businesses.
“People say ‘We need more industry,’ and actually we have industries that are looking for people to work,” she said.
Altomare agreed a lack of workforce in the area “continues to be an issue,” although some local businesses have enough staff to be open seven days a week. “There are opportunities for those who want to work,” she said.
Interactive map and other marketing
In 2024 on the region’s tourism website, ExperienceTheOilRegion.com, the ORA unveiled an interactive map that allows users to see the range of attractions throughout the Oil Region National Heritage Area.
“Users can sort by topics, such as outdoor rec and heritage, then see photos and descriptions of the sites,” Altomare said.
In addition, the ORA sends out weekly e-newsletters to its more than 700 subscribers and posts to social media daily.
In 2025, the ORA will highlight the work of three influencers with whom it contracted in 2024 to visit the region, take photos and write about their experiences. The influencers’ work will also appear in the ORA’s upcoming 2025-26 Oil Region Guide, which will be available in print and on OilRegion.org and ExperienceTheOilRegion.com early this year, Altomare said.
Other local organizations are stepping up with advertising, including the chambers of commerce and organizations, such as the Franklin Retail and Business Association and even the recently formed Cranberry Small Business Association.
Lewis said the public response to a business directory kiosk and Oil Region map, which were installed in downtown Franklin over a year ago, has been “great.” And the Retail Association and chamber have plans to partner on some advertising, helping to stretch both their dollar and their reach.
Affordability amid inflation
Despite many Americans feeling the pinch of inflation, Altomare and Lewis both said they haven’t seen it slow tourism traffic because of the affordability of the area, especially compared with more urban destinations.
“The trails and waterways do not cost a cent...which makes them great options for people traveling on a budget, especially young families with kids,” Altomare said. “We are also within a driveable distance of a large portion of the U.S. population, so many people can get here without a lot of travel expense.”
However, inflation has hit area businesses somewhat, particularly restaurants and shops, she said. Nonetheless, “locals are showing their support for these businesses with their wallets.”
“Do I think it might (affect us) at some point? Maybe,” Lewis said of inflation. “But most of what you can come here and do is low or no-cost...and the amount of AirBnBs that open up speaks to the fact that people are still coming here and staying here. So I don’t think we’ve seen that yet.
“I think we’ll continue to be the destination that we are, and we’ll all continue to do our part to work together and to add more things when we can. That’s such a great thing...that people are willing to work to make something happen.
“We are so, so very fortunate to have partners that do focused work on tourism,” Williams said. “We have to all work together on it.”
