From the Niagara Falls Review:
If every tourism-related business in Ontario laid off one employee, it would be equal to putting the entire population of Niagara Falls out of work – twice – says the chairman of the Tourism Federation of Ontario.
“One hundred and sixty thousand people,” Lou Seiler told an audience at the Binational Tourism Alliance’s second annual cross-border summit at the Sheraton Fallsview, Monday afternoon.
“If any other industry had lost 42 per cent of its most lucrative market (the number of American visitors to Ontario declined that much between 1998 and 2006), the government response would be immediate.
“Tourism is an export industry and should be given the same amount of consideration as any other industry that generates foreign exchange.”