Paul Tosto
Photo courtesy of Doug Ohman
The mom-and-pop resort, that staple of Minnesota lake life, is becoming harder to find.
MPR News reporter Tom Robertson wrote that in July 2002. At that point, crazy lakeshore prices were making it too lucrative for small resort owners not to sell their land and leave the business.
That same summer, reporter Tim Post wrote how resort owners who were sticking it out were getting bigger to survive.
A decade later, data show just how much that once-cherished tradition has retreated.
Statistics analyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis show Minnesota’s resorts and private campgrounds took a huge hit the past 10 years.
The Fed writes:
Resorts saw a 26 percent decline and had the largest loss in absolute numbers, losing about 290 operators.
Private campgrounds saw a smaller loss in number (about 190) but a higher percentage loss (28 percent). That loss was somewhat offset by growth in state and other public campgrounds, which are fewer in number.
Hotels and motels grew slightly, and vacation homes for rent (not listed in the chart) grew strongly from a percentage standpoint, but its listings are still small, at just 90 in 2011.
Here it is in chart form:
It’s interesting that the number of public camping offerings has leaped in the decade. It suggests that while the generational ties to resort life may be fading, we’re still looking for an outdoors experience for ourselves and our families.
— Paul Tosto