Tourism as Job Share Percentage

           This map shows tourism data for all New York State counties. Data for this map comes 

from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages in the 2007 – 2010

Occupation and Industry Reports of the New York State Department of Labor website.

This data was published in 2011 with the most recent update on April 19, 2012. The

website is authored and published by the NYS Department of Labor in Albany, New York

(NYS Dept. of Labor). The wage data was merged with New York State county geometry

data and imported into Google Fusion tables to create a map that utilizes gradient

shading  to show each county’s percent of job share in tourism; the darker the shading

the higher the percentage of tourism job share. By clicking on each county, you can also

view the county rank, average wages, total wages, percent share of jobs, and percent

share of wages.

            The darkest areas illustrate that the regions with the biggest share of tourism jobs 

are in predominately rural areas. Three of the top five counties with the highest

percentage share of tourism jobs are in the Adirondacks: Hamilton, Essex, and Warren

Counties (#1, #2, & #4 respectively). Further south, Greene County is another rural area

with the third largest percentage share of county‐wide tourism jobs. This county is

located in the Catskills region and the counties surrounding it are lightly shaded

indicating  that they all have a significantly smaller share of tourism jobs.

            The county with the fifth largest percentage share of tourism jobs is Queens,

which is the only predominately urban area. Once again, the counties surrounding it are

shaded much lighter. Rounding out the top ten counties with the highest percentage

share of tourism jobs are Genesee, Niagara, Sullivan, Oneida, and Cattaraugus. These

counties are scattered about the state and show no clear trends.

            Hamilton County is at the top of the list with 16.4% of their total jobs coming

from tourism. While this seems high, it is necessary to note that this figure translates to

only 280 jobs. Hamilton County is the least populated county with only 4,831 residents.

(Empire State Development). Over 95% of its area is comprised of public recreational

lands and waterways. (Hamilton County Dept. of Economic Development & Tourism).

The Hamilton County Department of Economic Development & Tourism has an

aggressive advertising campaign promoting tourism there. This includes summer

television ad buys in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany resulting in over 30,000

information requests. Autumn and winter ad buys in Franklin, Rochester, and Albany

counties promote fall foliage sight seeing and snowmobiling. Additionally, ads on the

fishing regulations page of the New York State DEC website reach 750,000 people (Ibid).

            Some of Hamilton County’s biggest attractions are the Adirondack Museum and

Camp Sagamore, one of only two Great Camps open to the general public. With little

industry and few prospects of future development in the county the Hamilton County

Local Development Corporation agency was dissolved in 2011. For these reasons it is

clear why Hamilton is ranked # 1 in New York State for percentage share of county jobs

in tourism (Hamilton County, New York). It also explains why Hamilton County is so

aggressive in promoting tourism.

            Essex County has the second highest share of tourism jobs in New York with

13.3% (1900 jobs). As host to two Winter Olympics, Lake Placid has positioned itself as a

major drawing card for the Adirondacks. The village has several large hotels and the

Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (formerly known as the Lake Placid/Essex County

Visitors Bureau) has widened its focus to promote Saranac Lake, Schroon Lake, Moriah,

Ticonderoga, Wilmington and Lake Placid in its marketing plans to attract and sustain

tourism in the Adirondacks (Regional office of Sustainable Tourism).

            Next door to Essex County is Warren County. 3,630 jobs represent a 9.6% share

of county tourism jobs there. With attractions like white water rafting in North Creek,

Lake George Village, the Great Escape, and Gore Mountain Ski Resort, Warren County is

firmly rooted in the tourism industry (Warren County).

            Further south, in the Hudson River Valley, Greene County has 1,570 tourism jobs

representing 11% of the job market. Hiking, golf, Windham and Hunter Mountain ski

resorts, along with the annual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival are a few of the attractions

that lure tourists there (Greene County).

            In the New York City Borough of Queens 43,450 tourism jobs make up 8.8% of

the employment. Some of the tourist attractions there include the U.S. Open Tennis

Championships and the Unisphere (the 1964 World’s Fair centerpiece) in Flushing

Meadows, the New York Met’s Citi Field Stadium, and the Louis Armstrong House 

Museum (NYC & Company, Inc.).

            The dense population and vast number of visitors to New York City naturally

support the high percentage of tourism jobs in Queens, but relatively small populations

in the northern counties tell a different story. There, natural beauty and recreational

opportunities draw tourists out of metropolitan regions and nature seekers from around

the world, which contributes to a large share of job opportunities in tourism focused

counties.

Works Cited:

Empire State Development. “NYS Data Center.” Census 2010.

            http://www.esd.ny.gov/NYSDataCenter/Census2010.html (accessed April 19, 2010).

Greene County Tourism. “Great Northern Catskills.” Events and Festivals.

            http://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/ (Accessed April 19, 2012).

Hamilton County Dept. of Economic Development & Tourism. “The Adirondack Wild.”

            About Hamilton County. http://www.adirondackexperience.com/ (accessed April 19,2012).

Hamilton County, New York. “Hamilton County Department of Economic Development

            and Tourism.” Tourism Update. http://www.hamiltoncounty.com/hamilton‐countydepartment‐

            economic‐development‐and‐tourism/2011‐hamilton‐county‐ldcmeasurement‐rpt (accessed    April18).

New York State Department of Labor. “New York State’s Travel & tourism Sector, 2007‐

            2010.” Labor Statistics. http://www.labor.ny.gov/stats/index.shtm (accessed April 19, 2012).

NYC & Company, Inc. “nycgo.com.” NYC: The Official Guide.

            http://www.nycgo.com/index.php/search/site/default_collection/cXVlZW5z (accessed April 18,2012).

Regional office of Sustainable Tourism: Lake Placid CVB. Destination Master Plans.

            http://www.roostadk.com/programs/sustainable‐tourism/dmp (accessed April     19, 2012).

Warren County. “Lake George Area in New York’s Adirondacks.” Things to Do.

            http://visitlakegeorge.com/things‐to‐do (accessed April 20, 2012).