Percent Share of Tourism Jobs in NYS Counties

Cartographers BVenza and YPatterson Note: "jobs" = Total number of jobs for each county

Map Description

We have mapped the percent share of tourism jobs in each county within New York State. The map displays counties in four different categories that range from 0-3.9%, 4-7.9%, 8-11.9%, and 12-15.9%. The counties with the lowest percent of tourism jobs are the lightest shade of green, while the counties that have the largest percent of tourism jobs are the darkest shade of green. In most cases, urban areas have a lower share of tourism jobs compared to the total amount of jobs within those counties. The counties with the lowest percent of jobs vary across the state. They are located on Long Island, around the New York City area, the Capital District, the Southern Tier, parts of Western New York, and a few areas within Central New York, for instance the Tughill Plateau region. Areas that are more rural, appear to have a large percent of tourism jobs, however their total amount of jobs is lower than compared to urban areas. These areas tend to be clustered around the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains, which stands out compared to all other areas of New York State. Areas that range between four and eight percent of tourism jobs have distinct natural features which would draw tourists to the area. These would include Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River Valley, parts of the Adirondacks, and the Thousand Islands Region. Overall, the distribution of tourism jobs, and the percent of tourism jobs is uneven throughout the State of New York.

Map Analysis

The counties that have a lower percent of tourism jobs are, in most cases, urban counties. While the total number of jobs is high for some of these counties, they have a lower percentage of tourism jobs. This is likely due to the urban/rural relationship that often evolves because urban areas have a larger share of people, while rural areas have a more space to accommodate these people. As we have discussed in class, people tend to leave their urban surroundings to seek relaxation in new environmental surroundings like Niagara Falls, or the Adirondack Mountains. This map could however be misleading if the reader did not understand that this was the percent share of jobs. For example, New York City boasts a strong tourism industry. Mayor Bloomberg has said that in 2012, the city alone drew in 48.7 million tourists. He goes on to state that more people become employed by tourism related jobs every year.[1] However, on our map The New York City area has some of the lowest percent of tourism jobs. This is because the economy is so diversified, that it appears as though there are not many

 tourism jobs. This can also be reflected in other counties with lower percent of tourism jobs, like Saratoga County, and Eerie County. Similarly, a similar relationship exists between the dominant Adirondack Region and its’ limited economy. The total number of jobs in Essex County is 1,790, while the percent of tourism jobs in 12.5. Because the economy in this region is limited, it appears as though they have more jobs related to tourism than all other counties.

Description of data source: We obtained our data from the New York State Department of Labor website. The department published this data which came from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. It was complied of data from 2007- 2009, and was published in 2010; however we only used the data from the year 2009. It was published in .CSV format, which opened on Microsoft Excel.

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[1] Patrick McGeehan, (2011, January 4). “New York Tourism His Record High in 2010, Mayor Says,” New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/nyregion/05tourism.html?_r=1