The following article originally appeared in the Kenora Daily Miner
& News. It is reproduced here with the permission of
the Kenora Daily Miner & News.
Kenora Daily Miner & News
February 13 2003
Summer residents are big business
By Miner and News Staff
Ask any business owner in Kenora if summer residents are
important to their business and the answer will almost always
be a definite yes.
A survey has now put a dollar figure on just how much some
of those residents spend each year - $85 million, or $22,368
per household.
The Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association
in partnership with the Lake of the Woods Business Incentive
Corporation has completed a survey assessing the economic
impact of association members on the Lake of the Woods area.
The survey results found seasonal and year-round owners of
water front and island properties contributed over $85 million
to the local economy last year.
In total, 3,800 surveys were mailed to association members
last fall, asking them to calculate their spending in the Lake
of the Woods area over the previous 12 months.
The response rate to the survey was a remarkable 45 per
cent, noted association executive director Gerry Wilson in a
news release, for a detailed survey which took members over
half an hour to complete.
No less remarkable were the results.
Association members contributed over $85 million annually
to the local economy, and 79 per cent of that spending was
done in Kenora.
Wilson added the figures are for association members only.
The Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association
represents year-round and seasonal recreational property
owners in the Lake of the Woods area extending from Minaki in
the north to Rainy River in the south and east from the
Manitoba border to the Sioux Narrows area. Membership is
expected to exceed 4,000 property owners this year. It is the
largest association of cottage property owners in Canada.
Full details and results from the survey will be published
in the March issue of the Lake of the Woods Area News, the
association's magazine published five times a year.
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