Tourism is about memories of our lives, officials say

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Mark Dorr, president of the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association, addressed the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association conference in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL – Congressman Marcus Molinaro (R, NY-19) remembers as a child going to the Catskill Game Farm. That facility is long gone, but the memories remain for Molinaro, who now represents a portion of the Catskills and Hudson Valley regions in the US House of Representatives.

The congressman and State Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (D, Forestburgh) addressed a regional tourism conference on Friday sponsored by  the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association.

Molinaro reinforced to the tourism industry officials that theirs is a major component of the economy.

“Certainly, in the Catskill region in the Hudson Valley, and throughout upstate New York, tourism is the principal industry, and when you weave together tourism and agriculture, it is likely the largest employer of any industry sector in our economy; critically important,” he said.

Of concern to the tourism operators in the Catskills is the proliferation of short-term rentals like Airbnb, VRBO and others that often take properties off the market that could otherwise be sold to residents. So-called bed tax fee collections were also of concern.

Participating in the conference were tourism agency officials from Sullivan, Ulster, Greene and Delaware counties.




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