State launches ad campaign promoting snowmobiling in New York

LOWVILLE — New York on Monday launched “I [Snowmobile] NY,” the first part of a nationwide, $4.5 million winter-tourism campaign aimed at promoting snowmobiling, skiing, and other recreational activities in the Upstate region.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo traveled to Lowville in the Tug Hill region in the North Country to announce the print, television, radio, and digital advertising campaign.

The print and digital “I [Snowmobile] NY” ads will begin running after Jan. 1 in national newspapers and trade magazines.

New York has more than 10,000 miles of snowmobile trails, which is “more than Vermont, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and more than Massachusetts and Michigan combined,” the governor’s office said in a news release.

The state since 2011 has spent more than $11 million for trail maintenance and development, an investment that has helped generate $868 million in economic revenue, Cuomo’s office said.

About 90,000 New York households snowmobile, according to the governor’s office.

As one of the “biggest and growing” employers in the state, the tourism industry continues to play a “significant” role in boosting New York’s economy, Cuomo said in the news release.

“With our new ad campaign, we want more New Yorkers and tourists to come visit regions like Tug Hill to see what winter adventures await in the Empire State,” Cuomo said.

In addition to this advertising campaign, the state believes its effort to promote tourism has produced results.

The governor’s tourism-advisory council on Dec. 16 released a report indicating that New York welcomed 8.8 million more tourists in 2013, a 4 percent increase compared to last year.

The same report also found that the industry is projected to generate more than $7 billion in state and local taxes with direct spending expected to reach about $61 billion, up 7 percent from 2012 and double the national average.

The industry is also projected to add nearly 25,000 jobs by the year’s end, a figure that represents a 3 percent increase from 2012, and is double the national average, the report found.

In total, leisure and hospitality is projected to finish the year with nearly 819,000 jobs, making tourism the third fastest growing job sector in New York.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com