Report on 2015 Tourism Study
The Columbia County Tourism recently issued a press release reporting the findings of a study entitled "The Economic Impact of Tourism in New York State," which was commissioned by the State and analyzed 2015 data from Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties and found that tourism spending is growing fastest in Columbia County. The press release is quoted below.
Of the
six counties comprising the Hudson Valley region, Columbia County continues to
grow its tourism sector having the highest percentage of its labor force
supported by visitors than any other county in the Hudson Valley, according to
findings in a recently released report.
In “The Economic Impact of Tourism in New York State,” a
survey commissioned by the State and prepared by the company Tourism Economics,
analysis of 2015 data from the counties of Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam,
Rockland, and Westchester show how tourism, as an industry, is of key importance
to local economies.
Hudson Valley tourism spending is growing fastest in
Columbia County. The county had a 5.7 percent increase in spending and was the largest increase of any county in the Hudson
Valley region. Tourists spent over $130
million in Columbia County in 2015. Tax
revenues generated by tourists grew by 6.8 percent in Columbia County, which was also
the largest percentage increase of any county in the region. Tourism spending includes food &
beverage, transportation, lodging, retail, and recreation, as well as the second
home market.
Although Westchester County attracts the bulk of visitor
spending in the region (more than half), Columbia County’s tourism industry
generates jobs and income at a level that saw 7.2 percent of all labor income generated by visitors,
with the percentage in all the other counties much lower, at 5.0 percent percent or
less. . . .
Anyone that would like a
copy of the recently released study should contact Ann Cooper at the tourism
department either by phone 518 828-3375 or via email at ann.cooper@columbiacountyny.com
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK
I never put any stock in those economic studies. They can be rigged to support any point of view.
ReplyDeleteThis reinforces my argument that our elected officials need to focus on improving train service to Hudson on weekends. Many trains are sold out on Friday and Sunday. This creates a bottleneck for tourism. Why not run a couple of MTA trains out of Grand Central on Fridays and Sundays terminating in Albany? Another alternative would be to run something akin to the Hampton Jitney bus service. Buses could run out of the Port Authority on 42nd Street to the train station here in Hudson.
ReplyDelete