The Market

During winter months, the availability of new hotel accommodations and amenities suited to the mod­ern skier demographic will accomplish several key economic objectives. Most notably, it will transform visitation to the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center from a day-use area to a vacation destination, supporting both overnight weekend stays as well as week-long vacations. Spokesmen for the State’ ski facility - which has already increased volume from 74,000 skier visits in 1998 to 146,000 skier visits in the 2007 season - indicate that there is currently a need for as many as 500 new hotel rooms to cover present demand. This lodging deficit will worsen with the projected increase of skier visits to 250,000 once expansion of the ski center is complete, unless new facilities are developed.

The Belleayre Resort has been designed to offer a higher quality and scale than currently available in the region, resulting in a marked effect on all three major ski centers in the Catskill Region: Windham, Hunter and Belleayre. The increased awareness of the region created by the Resort will help to attract a larger percentage of skiers already traveling north from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Currently these potential guests regularly continue past the Catskills’ ski centers on the New York State Thruway, intent on spending time and money in the resorts of Vermont and New Hampshire much farther to the north.

While golf and skiing are season-specific activities, spas are a year-round, featured amenity that has become the fastest growing segment of the hotel/resort industry. Annual revenue generated by the spa industry in 2006 was $9.4 billion, up from $7.0 billion in 2003, a growth of 34 percent. The medical spa segment saw revenue grow from $469 million in 2005 to more than $1 billion in 2006. The Belleayre Resort will feature a full-service resort and medical spa, making it one of the only combi­nation spas in the northeast. The proximity of the resort to non-spa related activities including golf, skiing, and outdoor adventure activities provide the resort with a well-rounded appeal to a broad market.
Increased tourism activity resulting from the Belleayre Resort will mean significant increases in tax revenue for the towns in which the resort is located. An additional benefit to the area will come in the form of jobs creation. This economic impact was not lost on New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer who proclaimed, “The Belleayre Resort will not only draw more people here to appreciate the Catskills but, it will also lead to an economic vitality that will keep our kids here when they graduate from high school or college.”

A unique moment in history.

The shocking events of 9/11 have created a new and unprecedented set of circumstances, with potential impacts for the hospitality indus­try of the Catskill region. Hotels and Resorts all over the world have experienced a mark down­turn in occupancy rates due to the public’s continued anxiety over terrorism and the new emphasis on airport and flight security. ‘Drive-to’ destinations are fast becoming the most promising sector of the industry. The Belleayre Resort’s unique positioning, a few hours’ drive from the richest metropolitan market in the world, suggest that a new era of tourism revi­talization has become a realizable goal for our immediate future.

Support Your Resort

Belleayre Resort will be good for the environment, good for the community and good for the economy. Show your support today by letting your representatives know that you believe in the value of the Belleayre Resort project. Click here for the next step.