Thinking Differently, with Andy Clinton

·48 min·4 clips

Andy Clinton, CEO of Visit York County, shares how his team grew website traffic from 500,000 to over 2 million page views a year.

Nicole Mahoney hosts Andy Clinton, CEO of Visit York County, in the first interview of 2025. Clinton recounts his accidental entry into tourism as a sports management major, starting as a visitor information specialist and rising to CEO over 12 years. He emphasizes the need for better industry education in colleges. Visit York County, with a $2 million budget and staff of seven, focuses on sports tourism, capitalizing on assets like Carowinds amusement park and facilities in Rock Hill. The organization has grown website traffic significantly through creative use of short-form video and topical blogs. Clinton details niche sports strategies, including hosting e-sports and disc golf championships. He discusses a collaborative marketing campaign with the York County Chamber and Economic Development, inspired by examples from Topeka, Kansas, and Providence, Rhode Island. The episode explores how DMOs are evolving beyond economic impact metrics to tell local stories, using mobile location data to show businesses their tourist customer base. Clinton encourages proactive networking and idea-sharing among tourism professionals, highlighting his outreach to other destinations for best practices.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how York County builds a destination strategy around sports facilities, location, and market fit.

Destination On The Left uses York County's sports tourism strategy to show how a regional destination decides where it can win. Andy Clinton, CEO of Visit York County, lays out the practical pieces behind that pitch: proximity to Charlotte, access to a nearby international…

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You can see how York County turns a nine-court basketball facility, 200-plus events, and a Charlotte airport connection into a sports-tourism pitch.

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