Every year millions of tourists come to West Virginia, many tourists are looking to camp and hunt and fish. The state's hunting grounds are diminishing and fears over lake and stream pollution will certainly keep some people away. The perception of the state as an industrial region instead of a rural paradise will become a reality, especially for visitors who come from regions where fracking has been banned or suspended.
In Canada, a study about how fracking activity would effect tourism in Newfoundland stated "There is a risk that fracking would undermine the tourism industry substantially that it would take a very long time to recover and restore its visitor base, image, and brand" Newfoundland, like West Virginia, relies on tourism from "outdoorsy" individuals who enjoying camping, hunting and fishing.
Visitor spending in West Virginia directly supported 44,000 jobs with earnings of $912 million in 2008 (latest statistics available) but in 2012, WV only collected a little over 90 million dollars in severance tax from the natural gas industry.
Allowing the intense fracking in West Virginia will mean the state is replacing a long-term industry (tourism) that brings in billions of dollars annually with a short-term industry (fracking) that destroys the quality of our state's land, forests and water, the very things tourists come to see. Our state logo is no longer "Wild, Wonderful West Virginia" it is "West Virginia, Open For Business"
Sources:
Newfoundland Tourism Study (http://hydrocarburesgim.ca/wp-content/uploads/ImpactTourismFeb13.pdf)
WV Tourism ( http://www.wvcommerce.org/info/aboutcommerce/tourism/services.aspx)
Fiscal Impact of Energy Industries on the West Virginia Economy (http://www.wvcommerce.org/App_Media/assets/doc/energy/Energy_Summits/presentations_2012/Fiscal-Impact-of-Energy-Industries-on-the-West-Virginia-Economy-Muchow.pdf)
