Governor Cuomo recently announced a series of actions to promote tourism in the Catskill Mountain region. The initiatives unveiled include: a$7.3 million plan to upgrade facilities at the Minnewaska State Park Preserve; the first annual Catskill Challenge in summer 2016; and a $5 million Catskill regional tourism ad campaign to draw visitors from around the world. The Governor made these announcements at Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Kerhonkson while participating in a “Ride the Catskills” Motorcycle Tour.

VIDEO of the Governor’s remarks at Minnewaska State Park Preserve is available on YouTube here and in TV-quality (h264, mp4) format here

B-ROLL VIDEO of the motorcycle ride through the Catskills with aerial footage is available on YouTube here and in TV-quality (h264, mp4) format here

AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Thank you very much. First, to Kim Elliman and the Open Space Institute and Gil Butler, Lucy Waletzky who really made today possible. Let’s give them a round of applause and thank them for all of their help. To one of the more adventurous state commissioners we have, Commissioner Rose Harvey, she will get on a snowmobile, a motorcycle, she will face any obstacle to advance the parks and she is doing a fantastic job. Commissioner Rose Harvey, a pleasure to be with you.

We have the County Executive Mike Hein who is not exactly dressed for motorcycle riding today because he is a serious county executive and he is doing the county’s work. For those of you who don’t know Mike, his work makes him one of the most stellar county executives from across this state. He is a visionary, he is progressive and he is making government work, Mike Hein, it is a pleasure to be with you.

We have Joseph Martens who is now with OSI. He was the State DEC commissioner, he worked with me and worked with another Cuomo before that, Governor Mario Cuomo. So he has done his Cuomo duty and then some, but a better example of what a great leader can do in public service which you won’t find than what Joe Martens did with the environment. He literally put this state at the top on environmental policy and environmental leadership and we miss him every day. But we are glad he is still in the field, Joe Martens.

And then we have out intrepid motorcycle riders, led by my buddy Paul Teutul Junior, let’s give Paul a round of applause for being out here.

And we have the Blue Knights, and we have the Fire Riders and we have some really quality riders. To be out there today, you have to be a serious motorcycle rider. Let’s give them a round of applause.

Part of today is serious business. I Love NY is serious business. It’s about tourism in the State of New York. It’s about a major investment that the state has made that is paying fantastic dividends. One of our growing industries in Upstate New York is the I Love New York campaign and tourism.

We invested about $60 million in the I Love New York tourism campaign which was a first. We’re advertising internationally and we’ve had about a twenty-fold dividend on our investment. The tourism in Upstate New York is way, way up. And that just pays dividends in all sorts of ways. That’s hotels, restaurants, that’s bed and breakfasts, etc. it’s getting people up, getting the motion and the energy up is what it’s all about. We get 50 million visitors per year to New York State, primarily to New York City, which is an international magnet. And what I Love New York is saying, is “New York City is great. We love New York City, but you know what? There is a whole state around New York City. And you think New York is great, just seeing our great cities, but wait until you see the rest of the state.”

Because we have the best of everything in New York. And we want to get those 50 million visitors and we want to say “make sure you go north while you are in New York City.” Come see the Catskills, come see the rest of the State and you will really be impressed and that is part of the message today. Within just a couple of hours of New York City, you have the Shawangunks, the Catskills, you have hiking, hunting, fishing, rock climbing, you have some of the most beautiful scenery that you will find anywhere on this planet and I Love New York is about telling that story and getting that word out.

The Catskills are really one of the areas in the state that has been overlooked. People don’t understand what we have here in the Catskills. They really don’t. I say to people, “There is no reason to leave New York State to vacation or travel. You tell me what you want to see, what you want to explore, and I’ll tell you where it is in this state. You can stay right here.’ But it’s a story we have to tell. They don’t know the magnificence that we have here in the Catskills and we’re going to tell them because we want them to know and we want the growth in the economy that comes from tourism.

So we’re going to dedicate $5 million of I Love New York advertising just to tell the story of the Catskills and what we have in the Catskills. That’s going to be part of the advertising budget that starts next year. As part of the lottery games, the lottery winnings, we’re going to have a scratch-off prize on lottery tickets that are trips throughout New York State, including to the Catskills, just as another way of publicizing what we have here in New York.

And this year, we’re going to have the Catskills Challenge. The Catskills Challenge is going to be the second challenge. We have something called the Adirondack Challenge, which we’ve done for a few years because the Adirondack started when I was actually challenged to a rafting race and someone accused me of not being as good as a white water rafter as I said I was.

Someone accused me of not being as good as a white water rafter as I said I was, so we started it because I am a competitive guy. It’s very easy - you challenge me to anything and I am there. It doesn’t matter if I’ve ever done it before, I will take on all. We had the Adirondack challenge and we’ve gone up every year and we’ve had a great white water rafting race, we’ve had canoe races, kayak races, all sorts of fun activities. But it has also had a serious purpose, to publicize what we have in the Adirondacks, which is also fantastic.

But for people who don’t want to go all the way up to the Adirondacks, we have a lot of the same activities right here in the Catskills. And that is what we are going to do with the Catskills Challenge this year. County Executive Mike Hein says that he is a world-class rafter and paddler and he thinks he and his county team can beat the state team. Well we are going to take them on this year and I am going to teach that boy how to paddle, I can tell you that much. Joe Martens likes to tell me about what kind of kayaker he is and his upper body strength that he has from years of development. I think he’s gotten a little soft since he left state government and he looks like he’s getting a little slow, like he’s lost half the steps since he’s left state government. So we’re going to put him in a kayak and we’re going to see what he can do and we’re going to have some fun at the Catskill Challenge this year.

Part of the ‘I love New York’ campaign is the beautiful system of state parks that we have and it is a legacy that we inherited, it really is. It is a gift that we inherited. This particular spot, as Kim and the commissioner mentioned, was added to the system by my father who stood almost where we are standing today 30 years ago. They were going to develop a hotel conference center around the lake and the environmental community conservationists said, this place should be preserved because it is so special and it is so beautiful and my father added it to the state park system. He called it an “environmental heirloom” at that time and he was exactly right and he said it in a way that no one else can say it.

So we wouldn’t be here today without that legacy and it is our obligation to take that gift, take that legacy and advance it for the next generation. So our children can come here 30 years from today and see what we did and say that their parents added to that legacy. That is why we are putting over a billion dollars into the rebuilding of the state parks that were abandoned for many, many years and did not have the improvements that they needed - not just because it is the right thing to do form a preservation point of view, but it also a smart thing to do from an ‘I love New York’ tourism point of view because it is a great, great economic asset.

Beyond being an economic asset as we are experiencing today and we already have and will be doing a little bit more, it’s just good for the soul, it’s good for the spirit to come out here, to see the beauty of Mother Nature, to see the beauty of this state, to experience the outdoors – it just is therapeutic in so many ways. So yes it is serious business, but there is nothing else I would rather be doing today, period, than exactly what I am doing exactly where I’m doing it. So thank the Commissioner, thank the Open Spaces Institute, thank the motorcycle riders and let’s get back on those bikes and let’s ride.

Thank you very much.