BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Pennsylvania Great Outdoors (PAGO) promotes tourism in Clarion, Jefferson, Elk, Forest, and Cameron Counties, but carries its message far and wide.
The 2015-16 season of the TV series “Friends in Wild Places” was broadcast into 75 million homes across the country and PAGO’s website, visitpago.com, recorded over 660,000 page views between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.
“That works out to over 1,800 page views per day, 75 per hour, or more than one every minute.” said John Straitiff, PAGO Executive Director.
“We’ve also added two new sports shows in 2017.”
Next year starts off with the two new shows, the Tri-State Outdoor Show in Pittsburgh and the North East Ohio Sports Show near Canton, both in January.
February is a busy month for PAGO, traveling to shows in Harrisburg, Monroeville, and Altoona. Additional visits are scheduled for March at the Western New York show in Hamburg and in July at Roar on the Shore in Erie.
Spreading the word of PAGO is also accomplished through several print publications and circulated to 11 eastern states in addition to Pennsylvania and Canada.
An annual Welcome Magazine includes a directory to the region, including lodging, attractions, events, recreation opportunities, and a full listing of all PAGO members. The 100,000 copies are distributed to all PA Welcome Centers and select rest stops along Interstate 80 and 79, sport-outdoor-travel shows, 24 trade shows, and other events in region such as Groundhog Day and Elk Expo.
35,000 copies both the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter GO Magazines also help attract visitors to the region.
The PA Great Outdoors Minute television segments air nationally to over 75 million homes on ROOT Sports, Pursuit Channel, and locally on WATM ABC 23 in Johnstown. PAGO also has a summer TV co-op program for its members with WJAC TV in Johnstown and have partnered with Kaleidoscope The Series that airs Sundays on WATM ABC 23.
Social media is another growing aspect of PAGO’s marketing activities and includes the following:
- PA Great Outdoors, 14,000 plus followers
- PA Great Outdoors Elk Expo, 4,300 plus followers
- Uncork the PA Great Outdoors, 1,000 plus followers
- YouTube more than 24,000 video views
- Twitter more than 1,500 followers
- Pinterest over 400 followers
“The recently created PAGO Blog is generating more search traffic to the website,” said Straitiff. “Blog stories include special features, history, upcoming events, seasonal activities, and many family oriented articles.”
“There are so many things that our region has to offer travelers. Cook Forest State Park is rated one of ‘America’s Top 50 State Parks’ by National Geographic Travelers Magazine. The Clarion and Allegheny are the only two nationally designated Wild & Scenic Rivers in the PA Wilds region. The region is home to Pennsylvania’s wild elk herd, the Allegheny National Forest, and state parks.
“The PAGO region is blessed to have many popular events, fairs, and festivals like Clarion’s Autumn Leaf Festival and Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney to name a few.”
“Every day people are looking for ways to spend their leisure time. At the PA Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau, it is our job to provide them with that information.”
For more information on the PA Great Outdoors, go to VisitPAGO.com
