The Warren County Coalition has provided Warren County with its final report on the inaugural year of Winter’s Dream, the multi-media entertainment attraction at Fort William Henry’s historical fortress in Lake George.
Warren County and private Lake George businesses financed the project, with the county loaning the coalition $3 million in seed money and private businesses investing another $3 million in direct funding and donated employee services. The coalition has committed to repaying the full county investment and, to that end, announced it will forego $50,000 in unused county funds. This money will now be available to the Warren County Tourism Department and county supervisors to help support another worthy event or attraction to encourage visitors to discover all that Warren County has to offer.
In its inaugural year, Winter’s Dream had a significant positive effect on hotel occupancy and revenue and on short-term rentals in Warren County:
■ During the period December 8, 2023, to March 9, 2024, when Winter’s Dream was operating, local hotels rented 7,700 additional room nights over the prior year, generating $69,620 in additional occupancy tax revenue for Warren County.
■ The increased customer demand generated $1.74 million in new lodging revenue among hotels and short-term rentals.
■ Winter’s Dream drove a 31 percent increase in visitors from the New York City metropolitan area over the prior year.
■ Winter’s Dream also drove increased revenue at local restaurants and bars and retail and grocery stores.
The attraction generated millions of dollars in earned media, helped establish the Lake George area as a new Northeastern destination for wintertime fun, increased wintertime employment opportunities, and helped foster the development of a 12-month hospitality season.
Winter’s Dream welcomed 28,000 visitors and had nearly 26,000 paid admissions, despite rain throughout its early weeks that depressed attendance. Successive rainy nights were uncomfortable for many visitors, especially Winter’s Dream’s principal customers, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, 43 to 77 years of age. They came from the Saratoga/Capital District region, the suburbs of New York City and the city itself, northern New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Rochester and Buffalo areas. New York City residents accounted for 30 percent of visitor expenditures. Burlington, Plattsburgh, and Watertown area visitors accounted for 7 percent of total visitor spending; Capital Region customers for about 6 percent; Syracuse, Boston and Philadelphia area customers each contributed about 5 percent. These data are provided by Zartico, the Salt Lake City, Utah-based destination data company. Zartico analyzes credit card and cell phone activity to track visitor travel patterns and spending. It uses the Amadeus data platform which provides advanced data analysis for the travel industry.
Thirty-five percent of total visitor spending was on meals (25 percent of that in local restaurants and fast-food operations, and about half at grocery stores), 29 percent on lodging, 14 percent on gas stations, 12 percent on retail, and 4.2 percent on attractions. Visitors spent an average of $349 on accommodations, $87 on meals and $135 in retail purchases.
And Winter’s Dream visitors had fun: 93 percent reported they enjoyed the show during its early weeks in November and December and, after some visitor-suggested improvements, Winter’s Dream guest satisfaction ratings rose to 95.9 percent. Visitors rated the show 8 or 9 out of 10.
While in town for Winter’s Dream, 42 percent of the attraction’s customers also visited Queensbury and Glens Falls, with others traveling to Johnsburg (8 percent) and Bolton (6 percent). While in the area, visitors attended religious sites at four times the rate of other sites, but also checked out accommodations, educational facilities, and other local events.
The Winter’s Dream experience was created by Moment Factory of Montreal. It was sponsored by the Warren County Coalition, a not-for profit organization created to oversee the operation. While a final financial report is still being prepared, it appears that the Winter Coalition’s revenues were less than expenses in this start-up year, owing to the major investments needed to launch the attraction. These costs were covered by investments primarily by three businesses that agreed to forego payment of their invoices: the Fort William Henry Corp., which hosted Winter’s Dream at its historic fortress; Mannix Marketing, which handled marketing and advertising; and Christian Dutcher, whose Americade operation managed the event on a day-to-day basis. Fort William Henry also invested about $800,000 of its own funds in improvements to the Fort necessary to host Winter Dreams.
The coalition’s contract with Moment Factory means Winter’s Dream will return to Lake George for the next four winters. With the support of Moment Factory, an enhanced Winter’s Dream will open in November 2024, kicking off the holiday season with an expected opening date during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Winter’s Dream was made possible by the support of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, the board’s Tourism and Occupancy Tax Committee, Warren County Tourism/The Lake George Area, the Lake George Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau, I Love New York, and businesses throughout the Lake George area.