2016 Leisure Travel Study 9/2017 - adirondacks, usa - In addition to showing a return of $63 for every dollar spent on marketing in 2016, the latest Leisure Travel Information Study results provide comprehensive traveler demographic insight for the Adirondacks’ Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties. For the 13th year in a row, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) contracted an independent third party to conduct a Leisure Travel Information Study. This year, ROOST again engaged PlaceMaking researchers to conduct the study, which includes a regional return on marketing investment analysis, plus comprehensive traveler data for Essex, and for the first time, Franklin and Hamilton counties as well. ROOST is the accredited destination marketing organization (DMO) responsible for promoting Essex County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, the Town of North Elba, the Town and Village of Tupper Lake, Harrietstown, the Village of Lake Placid, Piercefield, and Saranac Lake, New York to the traveling public. In addition to providing valuable demographic data and trends, the study’s intent is to measure the effectiveness of ROOST’s marketing programs, to measure the return on investment (ROI) ratio for public marketing expenditures and the conversion rate factor, or the number of leads who actually visited the region. The Leisure Travel Information Study is based on a survey of ROOST’s 2016 trackable leads database. “Leads” represent the contact information collected from individuals who have responded to ROOST’s destination marketing efforts, such as online contest entries or newsletter sign ups. For example, although lakeplacid.com alone received over 1.1 million unique visitors in 2016, the survey takes only these trackable leads into consideration. By including Franklin and Hamilton counties’ data in the study for the first time, both key regional consistencies and county differences emerged in the results. Following are some highlights: Overall, outdoor activities remained, by a substantial margin, the largest draw to the area. “Relaxing, dining and shopping” remained the second most frequently reported draw to the region, followed closely by sightseeing. The average stay reported by 2016 visitors was 3.9 nights. Peaks summer (July/August), followed by fall (September/October, then early summer (May/June) were the highest reported times of visitation. The estimated number of leisure travelers to the region in 2016 based on contacts through ROOST and the conversion rate reported by survey respondents is more than 525,000. These travelers generated an estimated $146 million during these visits. Average visitor party age of respondents who primarily visited Essex County was 51 years old; as compared to Franklin and Hamilton county respondents with an average age of 53. Mean annual reported household income of visitors to Essex County was $103,121; Franklin County was $91,432; and Hamilton was $91,940. Although warm weather months saw more visitation across the region, Essex County saw greater reported winter visitation than Franklin and Hamilton counties. The greatest reported area of residence for travelers to Essex County was Albany and upstate New York; and for Franklin and Hamilton Counties was western New York, with 53 percent of Hamilton County visitors from the western part of New York. The type of accommodations travelers reported to have stayed reflected the individual counties’ inventory. The majority of travelers stayed in hotels in Essex County; rv/tent in Franklin County, and cabins & cottages and rvs/tents in in Hamilton County. “The results of this study contribute to our data-driven decisions, informing our ongoing marketing strategies,” said James McKenna, president of ROOST. “The differences in some of the individual county results highlight the need to continue to promote to a varied audience the unique characteristics of the diverse product offered throughout our geographic area of responsibility.” The 2016 report, additional ROOST research and more is available for download at the online resource developed specifically for local tourism-related businesses. All are encouraged to review essential news, events, marketing opportunities and information at www.roostadk.com. ### Downloadable PDF of report available online at: http://www.roostadk.com/research Media Contact: Kim Rielly, director of communications 518.637.6559 | kim@roostadk.com

September 2017 - ROOST has been busy hosting and working with travel writers this summer. As the stories are published, we are sharing them with you. Travel writer Allison Tibaldi wrote a piece about the Adirondack great camps and elegant lodges that appeared on CNN earlier this month. ROOST hosted Allison and provided information and photos for her story entitled Rough it like a Gilded Age millionaire in the Adirondacks. It features lodgings in our region including Great Camp Sagamore, The Point, Lake Placid Lodge, Elk Lake Lodge, White Pine Camp, and the Whiteface Lodge. We worked with writer Sarah Taddeo for her September 2 story in USA Today, New York Road Trips: Top 5 must-see small towns. Lake Placid made the list! To support the golf at par initiative in Franklin County, we hosted Scott McLeod of Flagstick Golf, an Ottawa-based magazine. The result of his visit to the Malone Golf club can be found here. We’ll be sure to share more articles as they are developed!

Sept 2017 –The Conference Center at Lake Placid is set to welcome 1800 visitors at the NYS School Boards Association conference October 12-14. This is the first time this group has met in Lake Placid. Once their meeting itinerary is finalized, ROOST staff will be walking the business district to hand out welcome signs and agendas, so businesses can know when the attendees have spare time to peruse shops and dine in restaurants. A complete fall conference and meeting schedule can be found here.

Sept. 2017 - Wilmington, NY - For 27 consecutive years, readers of Ski Magazine voted Whiteface Mountain #1 in the East for off-hill activities. The magazine also named it #3 overall in eastern North America, #5 for challenging terrain, and #3 for apres-ski opportunities. The survey results are found in Ski Magazine’s yearly Ski Resort Guide: Best of the East. The survey asked respondents a series of questions to rate factors that affected their decision when planning a ski trip, and to gauge their satisfaction level with their experience at the mountain and with off-hill activities. The findings were based on a survey of 195 skiers and riders who had visited Whiteface Mountain. Before using this information for marketing/planning purposes, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) sought to confirm the findings by collecting a larger sample of Whiteface skiers. ROOST queried followers of Whiteface’s Facebook page, while ORDA sent surveys to their mailing list, which combined, yielded 297 respondents. The ROOST/ORDA findings strongly resembled the magazine’s results. ROOST, as the destination marketing organization, and ORDA as the manager of Whiteface and the Lake Placid Olympic Facilities, will use the information to help construct a plan that will attract visitors and better promote the product to them. “This information ensures we will make informed decisions when constructing a marketing plan for skiing and riding at Whiteface Mountain, as well as for the surrounding region,” said James McKenna, CEO of ROOST. “By continuing to work together we are stronger, and a unified message will help bring more winter business to the entire Adirondack Region,” said Mike Pratt, president of ORDA. Survey Results Both the Ski Magazine survey and the subsequent ROOST/ORDA survey indicates that the snow quality and terrain challenge are of upmost importance when planning a ski trip. Whiteface Mountain delivered on terrain, and skiers/riders were highly impressed with the mountain’s scenery. And while Olympic heritage and global sporting events scored 5 out of 10 (with 10 the highest) in importance when planning a trip, once they were here, it added significantly to their experience, scoring 8 out of 10 on the satisfaction scale. The ROOST/ORDA survey delved further into off-hill activities by asking those surveyed which activities they participated in while visiting WhitefaceMountain. Going to a brewpub was #1, sightseeing and touring was #2, and the touring the Olympic Jumping Complex came in third. Ski Magazines’s 2018 ski resort results are due to be released later this fall. The results of the ROOST/ORDA survey can be viewed at roostadk.com/research. ###

The Lake Placid Olympic Center lit up in the colors of Los Angeles’s sunsets last Wednesday, Sept. 13, to celebrate the city officially being awarded the 2028 Olympic Summer Games and Paralympic Games. Other U.S. Olympic host cities Squaw Valley and St. Louis, held tributes as well.