Benefits of Trails

 From the American Hiking Society.....

• Trails increase the value of nearby properties. 
• Trails boost spending at local businesses. Communities along trails, often called trail towns, benefit from the influx of visitors going to restaurants, snack shops and other retail establishments. On longer trails, hotels, bed and breakfasts, and outdoor outfitters benefit. Without trails and the protection of them, there may be less travel to communities that rely heavily on tourism, resulting in jobs lost and a decrease in tax revenue for the local government. 
• Trails make communities more attractive places to live. When considering where to move, homebuyers rank walking and biking paths as one of the most important features of a new community.
• Trails influence business location and relocation decisions. Companies often choose to locate in communities that offer a high level of amenities to employees as a means of attracting and retaining top-level workers. Trails can make communities attractive to businesses looking to expand or relocate both because of the amenities they offer to employees and the opportunities they offer to cater to trail visitors.
• Trails reduce medical costs by encouraging exercise and other healthy outdoor activities.
• Trails revitalize depressed areas, creating a demand for space in what were once vacant buildings.
• Trails provide transportation options and cut fuel expenses, offering reliable means of transportation for short distance trips. Nearly half of all car trips are less than 3 miles and more than a quarter are one mile or less.
• Trails provide low or no-cost recreation to families.
• Trails increase tax revenues in the communities in which they are located.

Baker Peak, VT, (Long Trail and Appalachian Trail)

See also this previous post.

Halloween 2022

 Lots of positive news about Halloween this year.  

News from https://nrf.com/insights/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/halloween/halloween-data-center

highlights important things like Costumes:

$10.6 Billion US is the expected expenditure too! And over a $100 per household.

Halloween is big business.  Figures are double from 6 years ago.

For Halloween movies see this link for some locations.

Oh, donate your extra candy to a senior center or food pantry.

Disney part 2, more layoffs for the Holidays

 Two months ago, I reported an article from the New York Times where 28,000 people were getting laid off from Disney.

Well in my local paper, it is reported that "Disney to lay off 32,000." Yet another 4,000 layoffs the day before Thanksgiving.  See this article from Fox.

Talk about a bummer.

The info graphic for Orange County (Orlando is found here) from Johns Hopkins University Covid Mapping site shows this:

To throw gas on the fire, Florida voted for the losing candidate in the presidential election.  In all fairness, the counties around Orlando voted for the winner.

Had the citizens listened to the science, maybe this could have been averted.

So what can we learn from this?  Wear a mask and save your jobs!

e-Commerce winners and losers

Here is a report on online shopping patterns related to the Covid-19 experience.

While this report notes a decline in camera purchases, I believe that it is the improvement of cell phones' cameras that is the real reason.  After all, my cell phone takes better pictures than my 8 year old digital camera.

Stay well and shop local instead of online if you can. 

U.S. Travel and Tourism Exports Total $21 Billion in December

Sounds like a big economic impact right?

"The National Travel and Tourism Office today announced that international visitors spent more than $21.2 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States in December, an increase of nearly three percent ($564 million) when compared to December 2015 - setting a new record for monthly U.S. travel and tourism exports.

International visitors spent a record-setting $247.1 billion on U.S. travel and tourism-related goods and services in 2016, an ever-so-slight increase (0.4%) when compared to record levels of spending in 2015; conversely, Americans have spent an estimated $158.9 billion abroad, yielding a balance of trade surplus of more than $88.2 billion for the year."

For more details see The National Travel and Tourism Office.

State Economic Impact from Parks

How important are parks?  Well darn important IMHO.

http://www.nrpa.org/parkeconreport-state-charts/ to fine out how important parks for your state!

Giant City State Park resident.

For the full report, click here.

Is eating out cheaper than cooking in?

The report from gobankingrates.com raises this question and I am not totally convinced.  The report states;


"The cost of food at home has risen drastically over the past decade. According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the monthly cost of food for a family four under a low-cost plan has jumped by 38 percent from $601.50 in February 2003 to $830.30 in February 2013.


But is that adjusted for inflation?  
Is the dollar meal good for you, the environment and does it provide funds for a living wage for the restaurant employees?   I think not.  And how many people are still hungry?

Consider the price of food as part of the total household budget.  Back in caveman days, (cavepeople), the average family probably spent 75% of their time (or budget) for food.  Today it is probably 20%.  So food is cheaper today, right?  See this report noting cost of food over time.

Consider this timeline for the US.  Prices vary but it was a simple time....

Economic Impact of Outdoor Recreation

A recent report from the Outdoor Industry Association highlights the economic impact of OR in the fifty United States.  Find out how much occurs in your state from this link.  Jobs, tax revenue, wages and consumer spending are summarized.

Worth Repeating... Tourism not biggest industry

As I prep for teaching Travel and Tourism Planning next spring 2013, I am gathering a set of reading on the subject. One that I may use early in the course is the essay by Dr. Alan Lew of Northern Arizona University found on his blog.

Originally written in 2008, Alan updated the blog earlier this year (2012) and for obvious reasons, received several comments.

While Tourism is big, and I mean BIG, like grades in education, I also believe the statistics are highly inflated.