Recession vs. Resorts

The recession has been especially tough on small Minnesota resorts trying to stay independent. Mark Ronnei is general manager of Grandview Lodge on Gull Lake. He says there were about 1-thousand resorts a few years ago, but he expects half as many in the next 10 years. Ronnei says the resorts that have survived have modernized or merged into larger developments. That leaves fewer of the mom-and-pop resorts that used to be the backbone of summer tourism.
Janet Christiansen is a co-owner of the three-cabin Idlewild Resort on Lake Marquette, just south of Bemidji. She says they're not making much money but she doesn't want to sell. She says her payoff is she gets to live and play on the lake.