County wants to welcome more campground visitors
Dawn Borchert
ALBION – Orleans County has 1,150 campsites and wants to welcome more visitors to stay at those sites.
The Orleans County Legislature last week approved spending $5,500 for a three=page ad in a directory through the Campground Owners of New York.
The state “I Love New York” funds will pay for half of the ad, while three local campgrounds and the County Tourism Department share with the cost.
“Camping is a big industry and Orleans County is going to be part of it,” Dawn Borchert, the county’s tourism director, told county legislators last week.
A report last year from Tourism Economics said camping is a $1.2 billion industry in the state with 350 privately owned campgrounds with 30,000 campsites. There are also 16,000 campsites in state and municipal parks.
The campground report, based on 2015 data, counted 11,500 total jobs related to the campground industry in the state.
The campground directory includes 175,000 copies, Borchert said.
