MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — As the summer season comes to a close, people are getting in one last trip to the Poconos at Big Pocono State Park near Tannersville.
"Just because it's close to home and there is a lot to do family wise we like to go to the water parks and hiking," said Nina Santos from New Jersey.
"There are so many nice places to stay, I used to come here with my family back when I was little I just really enjoy the atmosphere. The people are nice, it is an incredible experience," said Ari Glantz from New Jersey.
Chris Barrett, President and CEO of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau says this summer is on par with record breaking visitor numbers from the past two years.
"Poconos has been very strong; we've seen a very sustained weather pattern we haven't seen in previous summers, so that has contributed to us having a really, really strong summer," said Barrett.
The Pocono region sees 27 to 30 million visitors a year. According to the PMVB, those visitors spend over $4.3 billion annually.
With that uptick in tourism, the Visitors Bureau has started the Poconos Ambassador Program.
It's a free 30 minute online course for people who live and work in the Poconos to get to know the region.
"There is so many things that you can do and experience. We want to make sure when a guest asks anyone or one of our 30,000 employees who work here in the Poconos anything about the Poconos, they can have a good idea of what the guest is asking or can at least direct them to a strong information source," explained Barrett.
For visitors who have been here before, they say they're not surprised the number of visitors has grown significantly year after year.
"People just want that feeling; they just want to be free. We just want to enjoy ourselves and enjoy the time we have," said Glantz.
"It's not too far, just far enough from the city. It's very nice overall," said Joshua Falk from New York City.
To learn more about the Poconos Ambassador Program, you can find more by clicking here.