tourism

In a big preseason sale, Sugarloaf, Sunday River and four other New England ski resorts are being sold. And that’s just part of an $830 million deal that includes ski resorts, theme parks and other recreation properties around the country.

Sugarloaf and Sunday River’s land and infrastructure are owned by a massive real estate investment trust called CNL Lifestyle Properties. Now the resorts are changing hands in a deal that involves two companies, Kansas City-based EPR Properties and Och-Ziff, a multibillion-dollar institutional asset management firm based in New York.

Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for our weekly business segment, The Bottom Line.

This week, we focus on the Rhode Island Convention Center. How deeply do convention center events reach into the local economy? Is the convention business changing? These are just a few of the questions we ask Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau.  

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The ferry from Providence to Newport set sail last Friday, for the first time since 2009.

This year's award goes to Raymond Two Hawks Watson, a Providence resident and the chief executive officer of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. 

Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for our weekly business segment, The Bottom Line.  

This week Mark and Dave sit down with Rhode Island Public Radio Political Analyst Scott MacKay, a vocal critic of a new tourism marketing plan unveiled by state officials this week. 

On Friday, Governor Gina Raimondo announced the resignation of a top state marketing officer and did away with the highly-criticized slogan "cooler and warmer."

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Betsy Wall, Rhode Island's chief marketing officer, apologized Thursday for the troubled rollout of the state's new $5 million push to promote tourism 

Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for our weekly business segment, The Bottom Line.

This week Mark and Dave sit down with Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Martha Sheridan.

Sheridan says hotels in Providence have seen revenue growth close to 13 percent this year, and a similar trend can be seen in Warwick. Occupancy rates have been strong, fueled in part by conventions, meetings and sporting events.

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