QUEENSBURY — Tourism is responsible for one out of every 10 jobs in New York and generated $8.5 billion in state and local tax revenues in 2017, according to Ross Levi, executive director of tourism for Empire State Development.

“Every household would be paying $1,100 more in taxes if it were not for tourism,” he said at EDC Warren County’s annual lunch held Thursday at the Great Escape Lodge.

“Tourism is economic development,” Levi said.

Levi quipped that his job is to convince “people to have a good time.” Tourism supported nearly a million jobs in 2018.

About 12.4 million people visited the Adirondacks, a figure that has increased nearly 20% since 2011.

Because of how much economic activity tourism generates, New York continues to provide more resources to the industry. State tourism funding has increased from $30 million in 2013 to nearly $60 million in 2018.

Other states across the country have cut tourism funds — not a smart approach, Levi said.

“When you’re at zero, your competitors are still spending,” he said.

The state is working with many partners, including tourism promoters, trade associations, local governments and the attractions themselves, he said.

The state promotes 11 separate regions through television and newspaper advertisements and media coverage. They are also doing more with digital marketing and reaching out to places where people do not expect to see them, such as spots like the Adirondack Welcome Center along the Northway, according to Levi.

Among some of the state’s ongoing initiatives are promotion of the craft beverage industry, including breweries, cideries, distilleries and wineries; and promotion of LGBT attractions, such as the World Pride Parade in New York City, which recently commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

New initiatives include targeted marketing toward seniors and making sure that New York is handicapped accessible, he said.

They also stress activities that families can do together in their advertisements and promotional materials, he said.

“The number-one reason people travel is to spend time with the people they love,” he said.

The state gets a lot of traffic through its ILoveNY.com website, and he encouraged local attractions to contact the state to help promote their businesses at beat@esd.ny.gov Levi stressed there is $15 million in state grants available for local municipalities and tourist attractions — $7 million for regional tourism marketing and $8 million for capital improvements.

State officials are targeting people who live within a five-hour drive of New York, but they do international marketing, too.

In addition to competing with other states, Levi said, they are trying to persuade people who leave vacation days on the table.

Rebecca Wood, who became president of Great Escape Six Flags in March, said promoting tourism is about making connections.

Since Six Flags bought the property in 1996, more than 17 million guests have come through the gates. About 50% of visitors live an hour away, so they are spending nights in local hotels, she said.

“We have invested millions of dollars over the last decade to make the Great Escape better,” she said.

Great Escape is also a major employer with 200 full-time workers and 1,500 seasonal employees, according to Wood. About 50% of the seasonal employees are under age 21, so for many this is their first-time job.

Wood said the hospitality industry is all about working together to promote tourism.

The EDC also presented a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award to Robert Flacke, longtime owner of the Fort William Henry Resort who also served as Lake George supervisor, chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency and commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Mark Behan, who considered Flacke a mentor, said he was always willing to step up if there was a problem — by organizing shuttles to get people up to Lake Placid for the 1980 Winter Olympics, for example.

One of his daughters, Kathryn Flacke Muncil, accepted the award on her late father’s behalf and recalled one of his sayings, that life is not just about you but the people around you and how you affect them.