Before coming to Vermont, I spent most of my life in cities. As a tradition, my parents made traveling plans every summer vacation. The Aurora lights in Iceland, the art galleries in Italy, and the cherry blossoms in Japan all made me think they were the most beautiful scenery. Until I came here, I was conquered by the beauty of Vermont, where represents a mixture of nature, serenity, and serendipity. If someone ask me to recommend a place to travel, I will definitely say Vermont. In fact, tourism is the major business in the Adirondacks. McKibben Bill mentioned in Wandering Home that raft trip was so exciting that he could even hear whoops and hollers of paying customers in the distance. Fort Ticonderoga Museum, as a famous museum demonstrating America’s profound history, also acts as a leader in the economic vitality of the surrounding Adirondack region. Picture 1 shows the outside appearance and the surrounding scenery of the museum. “I estimated that around 12.4 million people visit the Adirondacks every year,” reported by the Adirondack Council. Whatever intrigued by historical value, impressive entertainment activities, or outdoor adventure opportunities, tourism is the key financial source of the Adirondacks.

Tourism develops along with economic benefits. What sort of advantages tourism creates for different stakeholders in the Adirondacks? Let’s take a look at it.

Local hotels are better off. Once people come to the Adirondacks for a trip, it is common for them to live in commercial lodges for one or two nights. Take Fort Ticonderoga as an example. 54% of guests of Fort Ticonderoga spent at least one night in hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, rental cabins, etc (Brooke O’Neil). This generates an extensive amount of income for the commercial lodging industry. Without tourism, it would be very difficult for those lodging enterprises to make profits in such a rural region.

Small enterprises in the Adirondacks can not only make a living, but they can also create some profits. Local retailers are willing to diversify the food and produce some value-added food due to the rising tourism industry (Walentowicz). For example, some households make honey, maple products, cheese, wine, jams, jelly, and other condiments by hand, catching many customers’ attention because hand-made food is rare and precious for those coming from big cities such as New York, where manufacturing is the major method of production. Other enterprises, including recreational centers, also taste the fruit of tourism progression. Entertainment can take many forms. In the Adirondacks, hiking is the most popular outdoor activity, followed by canoeing and kayaking, skiing and snowboarding, and ever more popular cycling, as investigated by the Adirondack Committee. People can make money by constructing recreational infrastructure, innovating exciting outdoor activities, and getting money from selling tickets or rental fees.

Today, living in harmony with the wilderness is becoming increasingly popular and being regarded as a way to escape stressful workplace environments. Tourism and the following economic prospect of the Adirondack are promising, when humans’ demands for outdoor recreational activities are increasing.

Cited resources:

(1847) O’neil, B. The Adirondack Economic Impact Analysis.
<https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Magellan-FtTiconderoga_EconomicImpactAnalysis-071817-low-res.pdf>

McKibben, B. (2014) Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape.

Walentowicz, A. (2014) Making the Grade: How We Classify Maple Syrup On New York’s Adirondack Coast. <https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2014/02/food-local-farms-even-winter.html>