Tourism director retires after 14 years with department
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County Tourism Director Rick Remsnyder has retired after 14 years with the Tourism Department.
His last day on the job was Sept. 18.
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said in a statement announcing the retirement that the county made significant strides in expanding its tourism industry under Remsnyder’s leadership.
Ryan’s statement said tourism opportunities in the county attract more than 5.4 million people annually and hat visitors spent more than $654 million in 2018.
Tourism spending in Ulster County increased each of the last nine years, the executive said.
Under Remsnyder’s leadership, Ryan said, the county has received numerous accolades for its tourism efforts, including the Gold Service Industry Advertising Award in 2018 and recognition for the best travel guide in the country
in 2019. The county also has received four nationally recognized Telly Awards for videos in the travel and tourism industry.
“During his tenure, Ulster County made significant strides in expanding our tourism industry by highlighting many of the features that make us all
proud to live here,” Ryan said. “His work on behalf of the county will be sorely missed, and I wish him all the best as he enters the next phase of his life.”
In addition to serving as the county’s director of tourism, Remsnyder served four terms as president of Hudson Valley Tourism and the Catskill Association for Tourism Services.
Prior to working for the county, Remsnyder spent five years as marketing director
and director of golf promotions at the Nevele Grande Resort in Ellenville.
He also spent almost 30 years in the newspaper business, beginning in 1972. He was a sports writer at the Freeman for 10 years, ending in 1992, and then worked for the Journal News in White Plains until joining the Nevele.
Remsnyder, now 73, was appointed Ulster County’s deputy director of tourism in July 2006. He was promoted
after Tourism Director Hallie Arnold, also a former Freeman reporter, died of cancer in August 2006.
In retirement, Remsnyder hopes to play golf, travel and continue to write.
Fran DePetrillo, the county’s deputy director of tourism, will serve as acting director until Ryan appoints a successor to Remsnyder.
That appointment will be subject to confirmation by the county Legislature.