With summer just around the corner, New York State’s tourism industry is stronger than ever: representing more than $100 billion in economic impact for the third year running. Earlier this month, Governor Cuomo announced that number and others – New York hosted a record 239 million visitors in 2016 and they contributed record spending of nearly $65 billion.
With a summer full of special events to mark historic milestones – including anniversaries for the Erie Canal and for women’s suffrage -- New York will keep building on those visitor numbers.
This summer marks the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal. Crews began working on the canal, connecting Albany to Buffalo, following the ceremonial first dig on July 4, 1817, in Rome, Oneida County.
Among the events planned to mark the occasion, the Water Music NY concert series in July will feature the Albany Symphony performing free concerts aboard a barge or canal-side over seven nights, traveling from Albany to Lockport. This project was made possible by I LOVE NEW YORK and the Market NY tourism grant program, which awards funding for projects that include hosting, coordinating and implementing special events statewide.
This year also marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York State – three years prior to passage of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing all American women the right to vote. New York was home to suffrage movement leaders, including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage. The nation’s first women’s rights convention took place in 1848 in Seneca Falls, home of Convention Days, an annual three-day event scheduled for July.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of acclaimed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed two iconic homes in Buffalo, the Darwin D. Martin House and Graycliff, the Martin family’s summer home overlooking Lake Erie. Next month, Martin House and Graycliff will present a week-long series of events leading up to the 150th anniversary of Wright’s birth on June 8. Several of Wright’s unbuilt projects have been completed in Buffalo in recent years, including the Blue Sky Mausoleum in historic Forest Lawn Cemetery.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I. One in 10 American military personnel in WWI came from New York, more than any other state, and more than 13,000 New Yorkers died in service during the conflict. New York State is also commemorating the New York State Police centennial, adding new features to the State Police exhibit at the 2017 Great New York State Fair.
For more information on New York State tourism and the state’s important state heritage and historic sites visit: www.iloveny.com/milestones and www.paththroughhistory.com.