Updated at: 10/21/2009 3:22 PM | KSAX.com
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Minnesota Resorts Affected by Cold Weather, State's Chilly Economy         

GLENWOOD, MN ----  Owner Dave Langhoff runs shady Rest Resort, a "mom and pop" group of cabins on Lake Amelia just South of Alexandria, MN.  Langhoff says Shady Rest is the perfect place for a day spent on the lake and a warm night by the campfire.  However, those warm days and nights just aren't happening enough to keep business booming.

"I think the weather has had some effect," said Langhoff, whose family has owned Shady Rest for 33 years. "But the chance to get up to the lake and spend time with friends and family is why most people still come." 

The drop in numbers he's seen lately is due "mostly to the economy."

"The resorting group is down as a whole from 2008," said Villard, MN resort owner Harold Kraft. Kraft, who is also the President of the Minnesota Resort Owners Association, met with hundreds of resort owners from throughout the state today in Glenwood to talk about Minnesota tourism. Speaking at the group's annual fall conference at Peter's Sunset Beach Resort, the president cited both the weather and Minnesota's down economy as factors leading to a sharp reduction in seasonal visitors for 2009. 

Kraft also said that a problematic economy was to blame for a nearly 50 percent reduction in his assocation's membership since 2005. "We currently have about 400 members and that's down from about 1,000 just a few years ago," Kraft said. 

However, the seasoned veteran of what could justifiably be called Minnesota's most home-grown industry, gives an important reason he believes people will still come to seasonal resorts.

"It's a lot less expensive to go to a Minnesota resort and enjoy it than to drive 2,000 miles across the nation somewhere you can't even find a good place to camp," Kraft said.

Written for the web by Matt Standal.

mstandal@ksax.com