Syracuse.com - Study: NY snowmobiling scene delivers an economic impact of $868 million annually

[HuntingNY-News]

The average annual household expenditure for a snowmobiling season is $3,561, and an additional $3,200 for sled expenses that include purchase price and towing..

David Lassman/The Post-Standard

The following is a press release:

SYRACUSE, NY – Earlier this year, the New York State Snowmobile Association (NYSSA) tasked the SUNY Potsdam Institute for Applied Research to undertake an economic assessment of snowmobiling on the New York State economy. Based on the nearly 6,000 responses, the assessment determined that snowmobiling delivers an economic impact of $868 million annually. The average annual household expenditure for a snowmobiling season is $3,561 and an additional $3,200 for sled expenses that include purchase price and towing.

“This follow-up to the New York State 1998 study shows that, even after adjusting for cost of living and other factors, snowmobiling has been a growing activity during the last decade with significant economic impact for New York State,“ said Dr. J. Patrick Turbett, Director of SUNY Potsdam Institute for Applied Research.

Snowmobiling’s economic impact will be on display this weekend at the 19th Annual Big East Powersports Show at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse. Attendees will be able to purchase clothing, accessories, and trailers, while enjoying a first look at 2013 sleds from dealers like Arctic Cat, Polaris, Ski-Doo and Yamaha. NYSSA will have a booth at the Big East Powersports Show and will feature a special promotion to promote snowmobile clubs’ membership campaigns.

“The goal of our study was to accurately assess our current contribution. By collaborating with the SUNY Potsdam Institute for Applied Research we ensured that the findings would withstand peer review,” said Dominic Jacangelo, Executive Director of NYSSA. “In addition to financial numbers, this survey informed NYSSA of our current demographics and how snowmobilers feel about our sport in New York State. These results are critical in ensuring snowmobiling interests have a voice on the federal, state and local levels.”

Broken down by region, snowmobiling has an economic impact of $245 million in the Adirondacks, $165 million in the Tug Hill and $163 million in Central New York. The study showed that snowmobilers spend an average of 22 days on the trails each season, with 8.5 days being spent in another region of the state from where they reside.

“Our Economic Impact Survey really brings into perspective how difficult this past winter was,” said Gary Broderick, President of NYSSA. “With lower than average snowfalls across the state, snowmobilers were not able to spend the amount of time on their sleds as usual and that directly leads to less money spent as well. Along our 10,000 miles of trails across New York State, there are a variety of restaurants, convenience stores, gas pumps and snowmobile dealers that rely on our sport as a source of revenue, as evident by our study and we all hope that the upcoming brings more snow for snowmobilers to other winter sport enthusiasts to enjoy.”

In comparison, the state of New Hampshire recently released a similar study, valuing the annual economic impact of snowmobiling in their state at $586 million. Plymouth State University Institute of Studies who prepared this study for the state of New Hampshire, used a multiplier of 2.88 to determine their economic impact. If New York used this same multiplier, the annual economic impact would be $1.2 billion.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog