Follow the Money: Tourism is Happy Valley’s Economic Horse to go “all in” on.

1,117+ new hotel rooms.
14 new lodging developments.
Cranes rising. Rooms booking. Momentum building.

This isn’t a feel-good story. It’s a growth story—and the numbers don’t lie.
Tourism is the fastest-moving sector in our economy—and the smartest money knows it.

What’s Being Built—and coming soon. 

• Baymont – 100 rooms
• Toftrees Resort – 125 rooms (Autograph Collection)
• Hotel State College – 13 rooms
• Holiday Inn – 101 rooms
• Bellefonte Boutique Hotel – 70 rooms
• Home2 Suites by Hilton – 115 rooms
• Tru by Hilton – 98 rooms
• Airport/NVSC Hotel – 96 rooms
• Patton Towne Center Hotel – 140 rooms
• Canopy by Hilton (S. Allen) – 161 rooms
• Nittany Residence Club—a condo/hotel– 70 rooms
• Avid Hotel – 56 rooms
• Candlewood Suites – 51 rooms
• Centre Hall Hotel – TBD

And that’s just hotels.
Airbnbs are booming. Campgrounds are packed. Surrounding counties are cashing in.

Why? Because Happy Valley is Hot.

• Football. Wrestling. Volleyball. Hockey plus all sports and entertainment.
• Ranked teams. National exposure. Generational athletes.
• ESPN. CBS, NBC The ESPYs. The national stage. This upcoming year 

Add concerts, festivals, alumni events, outdoor rec, and small-town charm, and you’ve got a visitor economy that’s not just growing—it’s surging. And do not tell anyway that you can fly fish here—shhh, that sucks.

This Is Sports Tourism meets Edu-tainment. And We’ve Got It.

Better than anyone.
Not just the venues. Not just the fans.
We’ve got the experience, and college meets the new professional sports model, well, you know it, and this is why you live here and it’s the very reason you want to keep this region all to us. 

And no—this isn’t about picking favorites.
We’re cheering for tech. We’re cheering for startups. We’re cheering for advanced manufacturing, biotech, and innovation. We are also cheering for Ai and paying the athletes and chaos and the disruption of higher education. It’s how you get innovation. And the agile and nimble will thrive. 

 
We cheer for more business creation, more jobs, more people, and more community vibrancy and more innovation and tech transfer and we will amplify those who are leading with heart and mitigating FEAR. 

Tourism is the fast horse. But every sector wins when people want to live, visit, invest, and grow here. We are here to just highlight when we see Secretariat —bet on that horse- why—it was proven to have an abnormally large HEART. 

Are the Stars Aligning? Absolutely.

• The world is watching.
• The cameras are coming.
• The crowds are booking and betting on Happy Valley. Just like you have and did and continue to do. 

Let’s align.
Let’s welcome it.
Let’s lead it.

Follow the money.
Follow the momentum.
Happy Valley’s got this.

What will it take to integrate the good people in this town to do the right thing and close Allen Street and make that a pedestrian mall? Discuss….