It’s been a rainy summer in much of the region. But in Northern New York and the Adirondacks, tourism officials say it hasn’t dampened visitor enthusiasm for traveling to the region.
While there has been some flooding in areas of the Adirondacks and North Country this year, it has occurred in pockets. The Lake Placid-based Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, or ROOST, coordinates tourism marketing across the Adirondacks. Chief Operating Officer Mary Jane Lawrence says heavy rain and flooding was not as severe as in neighboring Vermont.
“We’ve had some flooding and some temporary minor power outages and some washed out roads, but it was a very brief period of time and we’ve recovered and back in business. Compared to our Vermont friends we have not had nearly the devastation and the rain that they’ve experienced,” said Lawrence. ”Sorry for them but I’m grateful that we have not gotten the worst of it.”
The Adirondack Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau is a division of the North Country Chamber of Commerce. Vice President of Marketing and Tourism Kristy Kennedy has a similar assessment.
“Last summer we definitely got hit a little bit harder with rain and storms which caused more issues. Which is why I think we’re reflecting a little more positive in 2024,” Kennedy said. “So I think the storms that we had and some of the flooding was very localized, but it didn’t seem to have a lasting effect.”
Lawrence says they are assessing June and July and visitation numbers and so far they are better than last year.
“We’re up over last year which of course last year was a wet summer, so that was not one of our better summers. So we’re definitely having a much better summer than last summer. We’re a little bit behind July of 2022. We’re significantly ahead of July of 2023. And overall year to date we are ahead of last year, year to date,” Lawrence reported.
Kennedy says solid numbers from summer visitation to the Champlain Valley are not yet available.
“We have been watching our occupancy trends and we are up since April over 2023. So even in June our occupancy numbers were up about 10 percent. So we know this summer is going strong,” Kennedy said. “We definitely had some better weather and this year we hosted eight bass fishing tournaments, which is the most we’ve ever hosted. So it’s been a really strong summer for us.”
Kennedy has noticed that post-pandemic easing of border regulations is helping to enhance visitation to the area.
“One of the sectors we’ve seen grow this year was border traffic,” noted Kennedy. “Our Quebec-based visitors are about 92 percent of what they were in 2019, which was just a record year. And those numbers are bouncing back stronger than most other border communities. So we’re really seeing a rise in day-trippers.”
The regional tourism officials are anticipating a strong fall season.
Kennedy expects the summer and fall season to wrap up well.
“As long as the weather continues the pattern it has been, which is a little bit of rain here and there but then some sun, we’re forecasting that the leaves are going to be great this year,” Kennedy asserts. “We’ve also been talking to the hoteliers and there’s strong bookings already showing for fall. So I really think we’re in a really good position to have a great fall and finish out summer as well.”
Lawrence is also anticipating colorful foliage in the central Adirondacks.
“We’re going to have a very robust and colorful fall foliage,” states Lawrence. “And in addition it’s a really busy time for the leisure traveler. The hiking is great. The golfing is great. The restaurants, the retail, warmer days, cooler nights. It’s just a really great place to be in the fall.”
Summer usually accounts for just over 50 percent of annual tourism visitation in the region.
