CHARLESTON -- Add 2009 to the decade-long slowdown in West Virginia's rafting industry.

The number of whitewater visits last year on the New, Gauley and other state rivers fell nearly 9 percent to 164,871 compared with the year before, according to state Division of Natural Resources figures.

Trips during the popular fall season on the rugged Gauley River fell nearly 13 percent while visits on the tamer New River dropped 8 percent.

The decline mirrors a nationwide trend in the travel and leisure industries that followed the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Despite some outfitters' efforts to reinvent themselves as family oriented destinations, the state industry has seen a steady decline since peaking at 257,446 visits in 1995.

Dave Arnold, managing partner of outfitter Class VI River Runners and a member of the state Tourism Commission, blamed the drop in part on today's video-savvy youth.

"Children today growing up aren't being exposed to the outdoors, simple things like going down creeks and turning over rocks," Arnold said. "The demographic changes in America have been pretty dramatic. Some of that is age. Some of that is cultural."

Arnold said baby boomers who helped establish the state's whitewater industry aren't as active as they once were in promoting it. He also scoffed at the perception of whitewater as a "wild and crazy" activity. He said videos and photos posted across the Internet don't show the serene side of rafting and only highlight the rapids.

"It's so much more than that," Arnold said. "Most rapids don't last more than a minute."

Misconceptions about whitewater rafting and the New River Gorge were included in a 2007 survey conducted for the state Tourism Commission.

Members of focus groups from Cincinnati and Fairfax, Va., , believed that the New River Gorge is a longer drive from those cities than it actually is. Group members also mistakenly believed that whitewater rafting is not a family activity and there were no other activities in the gorge, although horseback riding, hiking and restaurants are available.

David Brown, executive director of the America Outdoors Association, which tracks whitewater rafting data for about 40 rivers nationally, said most rivers were hit hard by the recession. Colorado, the most popular whitewater destination, saw a 10 percent drop in whitewater visitors between 2007 and 2009.

But some rivers saw improvements. The Ocoee River in eastern Tennessee, which is within proximity of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Pigeon Forge vacation hotspot, saw an 11 percent increase in rafting visits between 2003 and 2009, Brown said.

"The availability of a major market within a short drive and the availability of relatively low-cost trips that present a value proposition to a family is where we see the strongest demand," Brown said. "Right now there's a lot of competition in the travel industry and (among) very price-conscious consumers."

West Virginia's whitewater outfitters are concentrated in the southern part of the state. Unlike Pigeon Forge, rural West Virginia has nothing like that to use an an anchor.

"West Virginia needs to establish itself as a destination," Brown said. "It has some very unique resources that offer some potential down the line. Part if it is a marketing problem and part of it is economic. The latter will turn around at some point."

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