Journey Gunderson and Gary Hahn with the National Comedy Center speak at the Chautauqua County Legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting.

The National Comedy Center is seeking some funds from the county to help promote the center, particularly in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

This week, National Comedy Center Director Journey Gunderson and Marketing Director Gary Hahn met with the county legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee to discuss their request of $200,000 from the county’s 3% Occupancy Tax Reserves. The Occupancy Tax is generated from visitors and guests who stay at hotels, motels, and short-term rentals.

“This is not about sustaining The National Comedy Center operationally. This is about leveraging a proven asset to bring new visitors and more economic impact into the county outside of it,” Gunderson said.

Gunderson noted these funds would be used for paid media campaigns and public relations in markets that can drive to Chautauqua County, specifically Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Gunderson noted they have a $550,000 state tourism grant and these funds will be used as a partial match.

According to Gunderson, the National Comedy Center directly creates $12.8 million annually in economic revenue. “That does not include the layers of induced impact that you often can see in studies,” she added.

Hahn said 95% of the visitors to the Comedy Center come from outside Chautauqua County.

The average visiting party spends an average of $622. An average visiting party, he explained, will spend $80 on two admission tickets.

“The rest of that is spent on restaurants and hotels and other attractions,” Hahn said.

Hahn said the awareness of the National Comedy Center is much stronger in Buffalo than it is in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, which is why they’re focusing on the other two cities.

Hahn said they want to grow visitation from those two markets 15-20% a year, which he believes is a realistic goal.

Gunderson said they average 70,000 visitors a year. She said events like the annual Lucy Comedy Festival brings visitors to the county but also helps drive return visitors outside of the summer months.

“We did design … the National Comedy Center in particular, with repeat visitation in mind,” Gunderson said. “We didn’t want it to be a place where you visit it once and never need to come back.”

She noted that around 85% of all first-time visitors say they hope to return in the future.

Hahn said they are growing in the motor coach industry tour. He noted that COVID-19 really hurt that industry in particular, but it seems to be on the rebound.

Gunderson added that COVID-19 hurt the Comedy Center’s rollout as well. They had opened about 18 months before being forced to shut down. They were also named by USA Today as the best new museum in the United States just two weeks before the virus hit nationally.

Gunderson feels like 2023 was the first year that they weren’t being held back from the effects of COVID-19.

Following the presentation, the Planning and Economic Development Committee unanimously backed the Comedy Center’s request for the $200,000 in funding. The full legislature will vote for final approval on the resolution at its meeting April 22.