Courtesy Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce
The Lake George Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau continues to see growth in the sports tourism market.
The Lake George Regional CVB, a division of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce, has funding supplied through occupancy tax dollars with the goal of realizing a return on that promotional money in the form of weather-proof year round business in the form of meetings, conventions, sports tournaments and other events.
This year, officials said the Lake George Area has netted three awards for sports tourism including:
• The 2019 SportsEvents magazine’s Readers Choice Award. The bureau has won this award twice in the last three years. SportsEvents asks readers annually to nominate events, planners and locations for the award. Voting is done on online ballot.
• Sport Destination Management magazine named CVB Special Event and Convention Sales Director Kristen Hanifin as a Who’s Who in Sports Leadership among top sports tourism professionals across the U.S.
The Lake George area features premier facilities for a variety of indoor and outdoor sports, as well as hundreds of attractions and things a family needs to fit some vacation time into their sports travel.
This year, the Lake George Regional CVB has helped bring three new major sporting events to the region: the New York state USBC Women’s Bowling Championships at Kingpin’s Alley in South Glens Falls (five consecutive weekends in April-May, with 1,600 athletes); Firecracker Baseball Battle of the Borders Collegiate Showcase, featuring 50 teams, July 18-21; and the Iroquois Regional Empire Volleyball Association’s TEAM USA Regional Volleyball championship with 140-plus teams).
These, in addition to Glens Falls hosting the Aurora Games Women’s Hockey week in August, the return of Prime Time Invitational Lacrosse tournament in July and winning the bid to host the NYSPHAA Boys Basketball championships 2020-2022, are demonstrating that sports tourism is a strong economic driver for the region, according to Hanifin.
Sports tourism is an $11 billion industry nationwide, according to the National Association of Sports Commissions, and with venues in the Lake George area both man-made and natural, the opportunities to bring more sporting events and drive higher numbers of tourism year round are limitless, she said.
“The sport tourism industry in the Lake George region has seen tremendous growth in the last three years, and it is exciting to see the opportunities that lie ahead for the region. Using sports to augment the local tourism economy is a recession-proof way to ensure that occupancy tax dollars continue to increase year after year,” she said.
The breakdown of the major sporting events in the area for this year includes:
April-May—83rd New York State Women’s Bowling Championship at Kingpin’s Alley in South Glens Falls. More than 1,600 women bowlers will compete over five consecutive weekends, beginning April 6-7 ending May 16-17
May 4-5—IREVA (Iroquois Regional Empire Volleyball Association) Team USA Regional Volleyball Championship. More than 4,000 attendees and 1,200 athletes expected using 34 courts around the region including SUNY Adirondack, ADK Sport Dome, YMCA Glens Falls, Chase Sports, Glens Falls Middle and High School, Queensbury Middle School and High School and Fort Edward High School.
July 18-21—Firecracker Baseball Battle of the Borders Collegiate showcase. Fifty-two teams coming to East Field in Glens Falls and Moreau.
August 21-22—Aurora Games Women’s Hockey week coordinated by the Cool Insuring Arena and Queensbury Hotel.
In February the Lakeside Boys Volleyball Tournament was held at SUNY Adirondack and the local Pond Hockey tournament was held at Crandall Park in Glens Falls. And in March, the New York State Federation Basketball Tournament of Champions was held at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls.
Lake George Regional CVB funding is supplied through occupancy tax dollars with the goal of realizing a return on that promotional money in the form of weather-proof year round business in the form of meetings, conventions, sports tournaments and other events.