evidence: The mayor’s hope is shared by Gov. Jim Justice, whose administration has invested heavily in state parks since 2017, elevated the Department of Tourism to a cabinet-level position and promoted the state as a destination for out-of-state visitors. State leaders argue that the strategy has paid off, with Justice recently announcing that tourism brought more than $7 billion into West Virginia’s economy in 2022, the best year for the state ever. The effort has also had help from the Legislature. In 2022, West Virginia lawmakers passed a law allowing the state to pursue private developments within nearly all state parks. State officials have already said that they plan to use private development in Summersville Lake, but haven’t offered additional details. [...] And direct spending from out-of-state visitors, which brought more than $5.3 billion into the state in 2022, is a big part of his plan for the "small city with big city opportunity" that he’s led for more than a decade.