Saturday Boating on Winnipesaukee

John Mercier · 09-11-2022, 03:06 PM

The Lakes Region economy was based on farms and mills.

Even though the LR is second ranked in tourism after the seacoast... the total value of tourism in NH is only valued at around $6 billion.

The $6 billion has been pretty steady for a couple decades, but the underlying activities have been changing.

The big surge in economic activity in the LR has been building... lots of it second homes. Which is why Laconia has nearly the same population as it did in the 1980 census, but has a housing shortage even after all the building.

We saw a huge surge with Covid and remote work.

But a second home owner is not renting a room, and may not eat as many meals out, as a tourist here for just a week or two; and that is how they determine ''tourism''.

09-11-2022, 03:06 PM	#35
John Mercier Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 3,460 Thanks: 3 Thanked 609 Times in 503 Posts	The Lakes Region economy was based on farms and mills. Even though the LR is second ranked in tourism after the seacoast... the total value of tourism in NH is only valued at around $6 billion. The $6 billion has been pretty steady for a couple decades, but the underlying activities have been changing. The big surge in economic activity in the LR has been building... lots of it second homes. Which is why Laconia has nearly the same population as it did in the 1980 census, but has a housing shortage even after all the building. We saw a huge surge with Covid and remote work. But a second home owner is not renting a room, and may not eat as many meals out, as a tourist here for just a week or two; and that is how they determine ''tourism''.