The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) has released the results of its 2025 annual leisure travel study, which showcases visitor demographics, preferred activities, travel expenditures, and overall sentiment about the region.
This survey analyzes non-business travel to Essex and Hamilton counties, along with adjacent communities of Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake. The study identifies and examines travel trends, visitors’ preferred activities, details about spending, travelers’ area of origin, and interests, allowing ROOST to develop a thorough understanding of consumer preferences, activities, and expenditures.
According to ROOST CEO Dan Kelleher, the survey provides a way to gauge its impact by uncovering data points focused on goals and well-defined key performance indicators. “We are pleased that the leisure travel study demonstrated success on several of our key goals, including increasing shoulder season travel, extending visitor lengths of stay, and increasing per-trip spending,” he said.
The average length of stay rose to 4.3 nights in 2025, continuing a multi-year growth trend above a five-year average of 3.8 nights. Total estimated trip expenditures climbed 8% over the prior year to $1,914 per trip, driven primarily by longer stays. Restaurant and meal spending is the primary area of increased expenditure, spiking 28% from $303 in 2024 to $390 per party in 2025.
The survey results also reflected an increase in early summer travel to the region. While July/August (25%) and September/October (22%) remained the preferred travel seasons, visitation during early summer (May/June) climbed to a new high of 22%, marked by strong June numbers. According to Mary Jane Lawrence, this is notable, reflecting ROOST’s strategy of promoting off-peak season travel to the Adirondacks. “Historically, late spring and late fall are times of the year when there is less visitation, impacting our local properties, restaurants, attractions and services,” she said. “ROOST has been focused on increasing visitation during that time of year, and it appears that these sustained efforts are beginning to influence visitors’ trip planning.”
The survey included several new questions to gauge the overall satisfaction of visitors to the region, and results are overwhelmingly positive. This included 97.8% of respondents indicating that they would be “likely” to recommend a visit to the region and just under 99% of respondents indicating that they would like to return in the future. The survey asked if the trip met their budget expectations and 96% stated that it did.
Consistent with previous surveys, and reinforcing anecdotal evidence, roughly two-thirds (69%) of respondents reported being New York state residents. Visitors traveling from the capital district and northern New York comprised the largest group of New York state respondents (33%), followed by central New York (21%), western New York (11%) and 10% downstate/New York Metro-Long Island.
Those who visit the region continue to cite outdoor activities as the primary reason for visiting (65%) with hiking remaining the most preferred activity. Data regarding hiking preferences continues to indicate a five-year trend of strong preference in casual hiking, with 70% of respondents indicating interest in day hikes, 45% leisure and firm surface hiking (a marked increase from 33% in 2024), and 25% favoring family hikes.
While hiking remains the most popular outdoor pursuit overall, other outdoor activities are popular. These include, in order of preference: canoeing/kayaking, fishing, boating, birding, skiing/snowboarding, cycling, cross-country skiing/snowshoeing, golf, and mountain biking. Interest in birding has remained at a level higher than historical averages for the past five years.
The 2025 survey also analyzed the impact of travelers on local lodging properties. Hotels and motels remained the most popular overall lodging choice (40%). Short-term rentals experienced a minor increase, serving as the second most popular accommodation at 19%.
Summary of key findings:
- Late spring/early summer travel to the region has increased to a level that mirrors fall.
- The total estimated reported trip expenditure was $1,914, an increase of $145 over the total reported in both 2023 and 2024 ($1,768 and $1,769, respectively).
- The average length of stay was 4.3 nights, continuing the positive trajectory that began in 2024 (4.1 nights). Responses from recent years ranged between 3.5 and 3.6-night average stays.
- Two-thirds (69%) of respondents reported being New York state residents.
- Only 7% of visitors reported visiting from states outside the Northeast or Canada (with the highest proportion, 4%, from southern US states).
- Canadian visitation declined slightly in 2025 with 3% of visitors reporting from Quebec and 2% from Ontario. This was a decrease of 1% in each province from 2024.
While the overall survey results have been analyzed as a complete package, the results for Hamilton and Essex counties have also been compiled and evaluated independently of one another.
Essex County specific findings:
- Visitor parties in Essex County spent an average of $476 per day, bringing the total average trip expenditure up 6% to $1,950. Major growth sectors included spending on meals (up 25%), shopping (up 13%), and events (up 10%).
- Early summer travel jumped dramatically from 15% to 22% year-over-year.
- Interest in visiting Olympic sites climbed to 23%, in anticipation of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
- The county drew a median party age of 58 years old with an average household income of $117,000. Typical party composition averaged 3.2 people, staying for 4.1 nights.
Hamilton County specific findings:
- Hamilton County averaged a remarkable 5.0 nights per stay.
- Though daily party spending dipped slightly to $309, the extended length of stay pushed the average total trip expenditure up 7% to an all-time record high of $1,547.
- Camping and RV stays were the number one lodging preference in Hamilton County at 30%. Traditional hotels/motels accounted for 20%, second-home use for 18%, and short-term rentals for 14%.
- Hamilton County attracted the oldest traveler segment in the region, with an average respondent age of 63. It also maintained the highest reliance on in-state travel, with 77% of all surveyed visitors originating from within New York state.
- Outdoor activities are the core travel driver for 67% of county visitors. Alongside hiking, activities like fishing, boating, and birding round out popular outdoor pursuits.
The 2025 Leisure Travel Study is available at ROOSTAdk.com/research.
ROOST collaborated with PlaceMaking, a regional community and economic development research firm, to develop and administer this survey. It was sent via email to a sample of the region’s 2025 leisure travelers, inviting them to complete an online survey. Results were compiled from nearly 21,000 responses.