Direct flights lead state to highlight sporting activities

West Virginia

Direct flights lead state to highlight sporting activities

WEST VIRGINIA is promoting itself as a soft-adventure destination following added direct flights from the UK.

Aside from flights to Washington, it is marketing itself on the back of US Airways’ new daily services from Gatwick and Manchester to Philadelphia and Gatwick-Pittsburgh.

Tourism director Alisa Bailey is aiming to get this message across to operators at WTM. “West Virginia isn’t widely known in the UK, so it represents a new and alternative destination. It offers some of the best white-water rafting in the US, excellent golf courses, and attracts 780,000 skiers in the winter-sports season. Snowboarding and snow tubing are also becoming popular.”

Bailey is also keen to push the historical attractions.

“We offer a series of Civil War trails, as well as a tour in the Eastern Panhandle based on the life of George Washington.”

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&#42 Areas being highlighted include Snowshoe Mountain Resort, White Sulphur Springs, the Appalachian Trail,Blackwater Falls State Park, Greenbrier Valley and Charleston. The state is also promoting a series of activity and softadventure tours based on three to six-day itineraries.

Snowboarding: a popular pursuit in the region