Happy Valley Adventure Bureau Launches Campaign to Recognize Local Hospitality Workers

As the hospitality industry continues to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Centre County’s official tourism promotion office has launched a special campaign to show support and appreciation for the people working to keep places like hotels, restaurants and bars a vital part of the local economy.

The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau’s “Happy Valley Hospitality” campaign will include components such as profiles of local hospitality workers, a dedicated webpage and messaging in visitor guides and other publications distributed to guests.

“The hospitality industry was devastated by COVID, both financially and from a staffing perspective,” HVAB President and CEO Fritz Smith said in a news release on Monday. “Given the challenges of the past few years, and those that remain for many of our establishments, the HVAB Board of Directors felt it was important to recognize those who have chosen hospitality as a career or who are working in the industry in some capacity, and let them know that the work they do matters.”

Smith said employment in Centre County’s hospitality businesses remains down by about 800 jobs and staffing shortages have caused some establishments to limit hours or make other operational changes.

A Workforce Task Force formed by the HVAB Board of Directors and chaired by recently retired Bellefonte Intervalley Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gary Hoover is continuing to look at ways to help with hospitality labor shortages. Smith said a campaign recognizing hospitality employees works in concert with efforts to highlight job and career opportunities.

“As the Task Force tackles the labor issue, there is consensus that an overarching positive messaging campaign was needed to recognize the contributions of hospitality employees at all levels, and emphasize their importance to the HVAB’s destination marketing mission, the visitation economy in particular,” Smith said.

“Tourism is an important driver of our local economy, and the visitor experience is everything in tourism. As frontline ambassadors for our beautiful Happy Valley, PA, hospitality industry workers at all levels ensure that residents and visitors alike have the best possible dining, lodging or entertainment experiences. All positions are important to delivering that favorable experience.”

The campaign’s “Profiles in Hospitality” — featured at HappyValley.com/hospitality and other platforms — highlight the stories and experiences of individuals working in a variety of jobs at businesses around the county. The goal, Smith said, is to showcase the “great personalities” who are passionate about working in hospitality, their career paths and how the industry can be rewarding.

Hospitality workers who want to share their story for consideration as a Profile in Hospitality can email LesleyK@happyvalley.com.

Messaging directed to visitors in variety of publications, meanwhile, is designed to foster appreciation for the work hospitality employees do.

“We want visitors to remember that when they frequent a favorite Happy Valley dining spot, or attend an event or performance, or stay at a hotel or B&B that there is a team of talented, dedicated employees working hard behind the scenes to provide them with excellent service and great memories,” Smith said. “We want our visitors to appreciate our hospitality employees and what they have been through as much as we do.”

The State College Spikes will salute hospitality workers during their games on Monday and Friday, when HVAB representatives also will be on hand to share information about the campaign and some of the profiles will be shown between innings.

HVAB also will introduce hospitality awards at its annual fall event, recognizing employees from food, beverage and lodging businesses.