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Putting Clinton County on the Map

by Colin Read, August 18, 2010

Last week, the Clinton County region hosted two inaugural events that are likely to bring it more visibility, and, ultimately, more jobs in the tourism sector. And, next week, we will enjoy the return of another major group that has made Plattsburgh a regular stop on a regional sporting tour.

The first event was the inaugural hosting of Velo Quebec's Grand Tour in Clinton County. Nearly 2,000 cyclists, 250 staff, and various family members enjoyed the history, both natural and national, and the amenities Clinton County has to offer. Based on their experience here, 80% of these cyclists and their families say they plan to return.

Just as that event was winding down, an inaugural wine tour brought more than three hundred people to local vineyards and wineries. This tour even attracted a tour bus to Clinton County from another region in New York.

And, next weekend, the FLW Series fishing tournament will once again attract as many as 300 world-caliber bass anglers to the region to vie for up to $50,000 and a new boat engine. This event will be but one of what has been half a dozen such visits annually in recent years.

While the major new and renewed visitor events attest to the amenities and beauty of this region, they also offer our economy even greater diversification that complements our strong manufacturing, education, and supply chain foundations.

For instance, 1,564 anglers and coanglers competed in six major angler tournaments last year and generated the following patterns of spending:

Total spending Survey respondents Anglers and co-anglers Average number of trips to the region by anglers and co-anglers in 2009 Total angler spending including travel Total regional spending by competitors
Wal-mart FLW Tour 90 304 1.53 $1,171,048 $481,333
Northern Bass Supply 32 200 1.84 $170,044 $105,906
ABA Weekend Series I 47 200 2.50 $190,309 $106,045
ABA Weekend Series II 29 200 3.03 $321,483 $169,207
Bassmaster Northern Open 3 360 1.00 $620,880 $282,000
FLW Stren Series 83 300 1.93 $739,453 $405,253
Totals: 284 1,564 1.99 $3,213,217 $1,549,745


As our series on tourism and visitor spending has demonstrated, these direct injections into our local economy generate demand for the products of suppliers that provide for the accommodations, food and beverage, and supplies sectors, labeled indirect spending, and induce even further spending on the goods and services purchased by those who are employed in those sectors. When we add up the various forms of spending and job creation, we find:

  Arising from lodging spending Arising from food spending Arising from fuel spending Arising from entertainment spending Total regional  spending
total regional spending generated: $1,577,078 $998,017 $1,310,070 $837,294 $4,722,459
total regional jobs generated: 12.64 10.14 10.71 8.98 42.5


In other words, the spending of visitors, even for brief periods, can amount to levels of job creation that would be attractive to any regional economic planner.

Let us consider, for a moment, some of the spending that can occur from the influx of a number of guests to our region. Of the 2,000 cyclists, 250 staffers, and family members, let us assume that 250 of them occupy local hotel rooms for two nights. In this case, the rest stayed with friends or camped in our region.

Confining ourselves only to 250 hotel guests at a rate of $100 per night for two nights, there is direct revenue and sales tax creation of $50,000. However, if guests to Clinton County spend at the same rate as visitors do in other regions of the country, for every $1.00 spent in accommodations, our June 2010 column documents another $2.55 in additional income, in food and beverages, recreation, and shopping.

Using IMPLAN 3.0, the industry standard method to tally the indirect and induced effects of direct sector spending, I explored the resulting impacts of typical spending for one such significant weekend event generating the following jointly related spending:

Hotel Spending $50,000
Food and drink @ $0.97 per hotel dollar $48,500
Entertainment @ $0.67 per hotel dollar $33,500
Shopping/retail @ $0.91 per hotel dollar $44,500


I find that each such event will generate the equivalent to 3.1 year round full time equivalent jobs, $80,587 in labor income and $125,613 in Clinton County-based value added:

Impact Type Employment Labor Value Added Output
Direct Effect 2.4 $54,808 $81,855 $144,149
Indirect Effect .2 $9,232 $16,139 $26,686
Induced Effect .4 $16,547 $27,619 $42,211
Total Effect 3.1 $80,587 $125,613 $213,046


I also find that a surprising array of industries are positively affected:

Sector Description Employment Labor Income Value Added Output
413 Food services and drinking places 1.0 $18,088 $26,638 $52,459
411 Hotels and motels, including casino hotels 0.7 $17,258 $31,334 $50,060
406 Museums, historical sites, zoos and parks 0.6 $15,591 $18,106 $33,530
329 Retail Stores - General merchandise 0.2 $5,681 $8,451 $13,093
438 Employment and payroll only (state & local) 0.0 $1,814 $2,055 $1,606
360 Real estate establishments 0.0 $726 $3,597 $4,609
437 Employment and payroll only (state & local) 0.0 $1,796 $2,034 $1,590
394 Offices of physicians, dentists, and other... 0.0 $1,663 $1,924 $2,789
382 Employment services 0.0 $783 $843 $1,071
397 Private hospitals 0.0 $1,593 $1,673 $3,138

Of course, these benefits assumed only one such 250 hotel room event each year. Multiple, even weekly, events, or larger events would scale up the results accordingly.

And, while sustaining such tours year in and year out promises to continue to generate these jobs, there is an additional multiplier that is significant, even if it will take time to bear fruit. These thousands of visitors that come, for cycling, for fishing, or for local wineries and vineyards, are much more likely to come again for other events or for their discretionary vacations. They will also likely tell their family and friends about their discoveries in our region. This goodwill will put Clinton County on the map as an excellent destination on the beautiful "Adirondack Coast".

 

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