Since Julia Taneja and her husband opened a luxury boutique hotel at a renovated coal baron mansion in Greensburg nearly two years ago, they’ve attracted visitors from throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
A $19,000 grant from revenue generated by Westmoreland County’s 5% hotel room tax will help market and promote the 17-suite luxury historic inn to an even wider market, she said.
“We want people to know about us and we want to bring in as many people as possible to our area,” Taneja said after a ceremony Monday at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg. More than $548,000 in new tourism grants were awarded to 47 local businesses and organizations.
The Tanejas in 2021 purchased the former home of industrialist Thomas Lynch, a president of H.C. Frick Coal & Coke Co., and spent the next two years converting what for more than seven decades had been an office building on Oakland Avenue in Greensburg into a boutique hotel.
It’s a relatively new business in Greensburg and officials said the goal of the tourism grant program is to let outsiders know what attractions are in Westmoreland County.
The grant program is administered by Go Laurel Highlands, the tourism and visitor’s bureau that services Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties. It has doled out more than 943 grants at more than $8.1 million since the hotel tax was implemented in 2003.
“The more people who come here, the higher the daily rates are and the more we can give out,” said Go Laurel Highlands Executive Director Ann Nemanic.
Commissioners in the early 2000s implemented what was then a 3% tax on daily room rentals. A portion of the money generated by the tax was turned over the visitor’s bureau to promote attractions in the three county-region and finance a separate grant program available to Westmoreland County tourism sites and businesses.
The tax was increased to 5% in 2016, with the additional money generated designated for county tourism-related projects. Commissioners last year allocated $1.3 million in tourism funds to pay for upgrades and repairs at the 10 county-owned parks as well as local festivals and events.
“Our goals is to make this place a wonderful, wonderful destination,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.
Revenue stream
For larger organizations such as the Westmoreland County Arts and Heritage Festival, the county fair, local museums and theaters, the grants have become an annual revenue stream to promote activities. Grants ranging from a low of $500 to up to $20,000 were awarded Monday.
Wandering Spirits in Ligonier Borough, one of four first-time recipients this year, received a $1,940 to help promote a music festival its owner, Emily Honhart, said she hopes will be an annual attraction.
Wandering Spirits, according to the Go Laurel Highlands, is the first and only independent woman-owned wine and spirits store in Pennsylvania. Honhart said the tourism grant will allow her to plan and market an inaugural rock and reggae music festival in early June at the Loyalhanna Watershed Association grounds in Ligonier.
“I am huge live music fan, especially reggae, and we need something like this in Ligonier. There’s nothing like this in the reggae genre around here. These events can attract a large audience, so we decided to do something,” Honhart said.
The Greensburg Art Club, another first-time grant recipient, will use a $3,705 marketing grant to pay for social media advertisements and brochure distribution, said treasurer Pat Majcher. The art club, formed in 1929, offers classes, studios and a gallery to showcase local works.
“We’re trying to spread the word about what we offer,” Majcher said.
Stephanie Babich Mihleder said a $5,000 marketing grant, the first it has received from the tourism program, will help her volunteer organization broaden the appeal of the annual Latrobe Fourth of July Celebration, a free, family friendly two-day event that features, food booths, children’s activities, a parade and fireworks.
“The idea is to let people in other communities know this is something free on the 4th of July,” Mihleder said.