SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Welcome to West Virginia’s
New River Gorge Area
West Virginia’s New River Gorge area is
a historic location known for its extreme
sports, incredible natural beauty,
amazing food culture and, of course, the
iconic New River Gorge Bridge.
So far, 2018 has been a momentous
year for the New River Gorge area. It
marks the 40th anniversary of the New
River being designated as a national
river and is also the 50th anniversary of
whitewater rafting in West Virginia. To
celebrate these milestones, West Virginia
Executive has put together a special section
and targeted content in this issue honoring
the New River Gorge area’s wild and
wonderful business community as well
as offering an inside look at Bridge Day
2018 on page 104 and West Virginia’s
whitewater rafting companies on page 100.
In 1968, the Dragan brothers
unknowingly sparked an entire industry
after taking their friends down the New
River in rubber rafts, and in 1978 the
river was added to the list of national
rivers in the U.S. These landmark
moments inspired an entire movement
of adventure tourism and, combined with
the area’s sense of history and adventure
and unmatched scenery, gave rise to a
region that has a significant economic
impact on the Mountain State.
According to a report by the National
Park Service, visitation in the New River
(L-R) Chris, John and Tom Dragan
on the Gauley River in 1968.
Gorge area was up by 10 percent in 2017,
and 1.2 million visitors came to the New
River Gorge National River, Bluestone
National Scenic River and the Gauley
River National Recreation Area, spending
an estimated $49.9 million in local
gateway regions. These expenditures
supported a total of 729 jobs, $19 million
in labor income, $31.6 million in value
added and $57 million in economic
output in local economies surrounding
the New River Gorge National River.
The New River Gorge Convention & Visitors
Bureau and Visit Southern West Virginia
invite you to come whitewater raft down
the New and Gauley rivers, have lunch at
one of our many locally owned restaurants,
watch people BASE jump off of the world’s
longest-spanning steel single-arch bridge
and spend some time in the New River
Gorge area. You won’t be sorry.
(304) 252-2244 • 1408 Harper Road, Beckley, WV 25801
(304) 465-5617 • 310 Oyler Avenue, Oak Hill, WV 25901