SNOWMOBILE – Snowmobiling Grows as Job Generator
During the 2003-2004 snowmobile season, slightly more than 2.3 million snowmobiles were registered in North America. That compares to 1.6 million in the 1980’s, an increase of 43% in the total number of registered snowmobiles in North America over the last two decades.
The growth of the sport indicates the importance of snowmobiling as a strong economic resource. Economic impact studies performed by universities located throughout the snowbelt show over $25 billion worth of economic activity in the US and Canada can be directly related to snowmobiling, accoding to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA).
Across the snowbelt, approximately 10% of all travelers spending can be directly related to snowmobile activity, says ISMA. An average snowmobiler spends $88.30 per day while snowmobiling. An average snowmobile trip is 2.5 days with the average party size being five snowmobilers. The average household makes 12 snowmobile trips per season and reports the following breakdown in expenditures:
– Meals – 23.6% of total costs
– Accommodations – 19.4% of total cost
– Recreational Activities – 8.2% of total cost
– Food Stores – 7.1% of total cost
– Retail Stores – 13.7 % of total cost
– Ground Transportation – 7.7% of total cost
– Services and other – 20.3% of total cost
Snowmobile tourism in North American is big business, and over 95,000 jobs are directly related to snowmobiling, says ISMA.
Travel and recreation trends suggest that snowmobiling will continue to grow as more families vacation together close to home.
