Are you happy with your current level of tourism patronage, or would you prefer additional customers and an extended tourist season?
Tom[/QUOTE]
Laconia could be a lot tougher place to persuade than is reasonable to comprehend.
Just consider that in the last 40-years, going from 1970 to 2011, the population of Laconia has declined a little going from something like 17,500 to 17,000.
Laconia usually has an unemployment rate that is a point or two higher than the rest of central NH, except for Franklin, which is about the same.
There's been about four drug related Laconia deaths in the past 12-months.
Laconia is probably the national #1 bad example for how urban renewal can be very bad for the local economy. Just go take a visit to the Laconia downtown area, and look around at the narrow little entrance road that blocks away the entry to the downtown area.
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Do yourself a favor, and forget about Laconia, and just head 17-air miles north up to Rt 93-Exit 26, and the Plymouth Municipal Airport which has a very friendly, green grass runway that is perfect for skydivers, plus a big horizon of beautiful mountain views.
You sound like a very good guy so maybe you want to stop beating your head against that Laconia wall and just go north a little bit, up to Plymouth, and you will be happy that you did!
www.chutesup.com/aboutus.htm for an up-in-the-air, flying around, look-see at the Plymouth Airport, and click onto "Maxy's Plane Takes Off / Lands at Plymouth Airport" for an up-close look at Plymouth Airport, and just picture your skydive class landing on that grassy runway.......hey.....talk about a soft and scenic landing spot!!
Plymouth is home to the huge Plymouth State University, which is hugely expensive to attend. It and UNH down in southern NH are something like the most expensive state colleges in the whole country, so the students and visiting PSU parents must have some big money and could be a good new customer demographic to a Plymouth Airport skydive business.
www.airnav.com/airport/1P1