Leaders in the Saratoga County tourism industry met today to discuss their 2025 outlook.
In the second installment of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and Discover Saratoga’s Industry Influencer series, industry leaders shared their hopes and fears with a packed audience at the Saratoga Casino Hotel Wednesday.
There's already one popular summer event that is being shortened this year.
Saratoga Performing Arts Center CEO Elizabeth Sobol said with hotter summers taking a toll on dancers, the New York City Ballet, an annual staple of the venue, has moved its upstate residency to only two performances, where in previous years they held upwards of five.
“Both the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as most performing arts entities across the nation, because of the changes in climate, have started putting weather clauses in their CBAS. So, for instance, if the weather goes beyond, if the heat is beyond a certain point on stage projected for a performance these companies are now able to cancel right before the performance and SPAC would hold all the liability for lost revenue,” said Sobol.
For Universal Preservation Hall Director Teddy Foster, economic uncertainties are a major concern.
“I think the challenge is for a nonprofit like UPH or first SPAC is the dollar. And we don't know what's going to happen in the future regarding federal state funding for organizations like ours. We right now the dollar is strong. Sponsorships are great. Individual memberships are growing, but I think that's a real could be a real challenge for us going forward,” said Foster.
Saratoga Casino Hotel Operations Manager Matt Cudemo says staffing shortages and competition with short-term rentals are his biggest hurdles.
“My biggest challenge, short term rentals, goes without saying. I the bane of my existence. But listen, obviously there's, there's legislation and it works for that, but if you want to know the truth, yeah, that's a big challenge for me, huge challenge, I think for a lot of hoteliers,” said Cudemo.
Following the panel, Discover Saratoga CEO Darryl Leggieri said the overall outlook remains positive despite some uncertainties.
“Meetings and events are still going to happen. There’s still some questions about some of our conferences that are federally funded, is attendance still going to be strong? Are they going to cancel? So far we haven’t seen a lot of that, so I’m grateful for that. I think what helps us is that just being in upstate New York, we’re easy to get to. I think people are going to, just like in the pandemic, come out and discover us, come out and visit us because it’s easy, it’s familiar and I think we’re going to have a great season,” said Leggieri.
The next panel in the series is set for June.