"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eifye.132369$xm3.97873@attbi_s21...
At best, fly-in pilots represent 5% of our sales. The best thing that
could POSSIBLY happen to my business would be for the airport to be
bulldozed, and that land developed into homes and businesses. I would
probably see an immediate 300% to 400% increase in business, and the value
of the hotel would absolutely skyrocket.

Interesting. I was relying largely on your statement, back when you first
contemplated buying the hotel, that "Surprisingly, not very many visitors
are pilots, according to my friend. I chalk this up to a simple lack of
advertising/marketing to the pilot crowd--which Mary and I would rectify
quickly". But if your expectations didn't pan out, then I stand corrected.

One thing still puzzles me, though. An argument you've made in favor of the
airport's government subsidy is that the airport is good for local business.
But if even an *aviation-themed hotel* has its business *diminished by a
factor of three or four* by having the airport next door, then I have
trouble understanding how the airport's net economic effect could actually
be positive. (I'm not saying it couldn't be so--just that it's hard to
understand offhand.)

--Gary