To the editor:

In 1998, tourism in Sullivan County, once home to over 400 hotels, was in decline. Barely a handful of resort hotels remained. County Manager Jonathan Drapkin created the Sullivan County Visitors Association (SCVA) - a 17-member organization responsible to promote tourism - to represent various aspects of the County's Tourism Industry.

I was honored to be appointed its first Chairman and set out to reinvent our market position. Those early years were a struggle, and in 2000 we sought out and hired a new President and CEO, Roberta Byron-Lockwood.

Roberta wasted no time, and immediately increased memberships and developed an aggressive marketing strategy. She focused our efforts on promoting the great outdoors, arts and culture, our unique restaurant scene and our shopping experience.

Steadily, under her leadership, our county saw a resurgence in tourism. And the numbers speak for themselves.

In 1988, tourism generated $19.5 million in sales tax. In 2018 tourism generated over $33 million in local sales tax. This growth and the marketing efforts that create it are funded by the room tax, which in no way burdens local taxpayers, and in fact, benefits them to the tune of nearly $2,400 per household in tax relief to maintain government services.

The SCVA has clearly demonstrated its importance to the economic landscape in our county. Its current Board of Directors - led by Sims Foster, a Sullivan County native who returned from New York City to start a family and build a hotel business of his own - is a collection of savvy business owners with the depth and breadth of experience to guide the tourism industry to undeniable success.

I respectfully submit that with the growth of tourism, it would be detrimental to make changes to any part of the SCVA operation.

Our newest tourism destination, The Eldred Preserve, Bradstan Country Hotel and The Old Homestead, is slated to open in early 2021, and more venues are in the works.

Employment, opportunity, growth, quality of life, a happy place to call home, to raise a family, to make friends - Sullivan County is for you. So please do not look to change what is functioning on all cylinders. Show your support and help strengthen Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association's mission.

Finally, and most importantly, let us remember it is Roberta's guidance and vision to aggressively seek new markets, and continuously strategizing to ensure the Sullivan Catskills is responding to new trends, staying in the forefront of visitors, media and tour operators. She continues to be the backbone of this program in all she does. THANK YOU!

I am so happy to have been SCVA's first Chairman. Watching this program grow in every aspect, travel guides, web, advertising, marketing plans, trade shows, and on and on. I personally thank you and all the members for the hard work, time and effort they put into making Sullivan County Tourism to bring new life to Sullivan County.

Please keep this machine oiled and greased. Keep up the good work. And remember, nothing is broken, so don't try to fix it.