Comments on: Great Wolf aquarium held up by passport issue; Ripley won’t decide until border questions are answered

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:59:04 +0000

There are so many factors. Will “mom and pops” be hurt? Maybe. Maybe they will pick up all the people who can’t afford the Hilton. Maybe Niagara has become only concerned with people who can afford the Hilton and everything else that are priced so high. It tends to happen around casinos.

Are prices too high? Yes. Do I have a few more extra bucks than I did when I first started coming on my own? Fortunately - Yes. Would I rather prices be lower? Yes. Will that stop me? Probably not. If my financial situation were different…I’d have to say it would probably stop me.

Have I stayed at “mom and pop?” Yes. Do I prefer a nicer hotel? Yes. Am I lucky enough to get comps at the casino?Yes. Would I come as often (5 times last year) if I didn’t have access to comps? Well….no.

Will I get a passport just to come to the Falls? Yes. Gladly. Maybe I should have one anyway. Would I get one if I didn’t have an emotional attachment to the place? It’s a nearby natural wonder - I don’t think I would be able to pass up a natural wonder within driving distance. If the Grand Canyon were nearby, I’d make the effort - even if I needed a passport.

There’s an honest story of one of Niagara’s tourists.

I’m hoping to branch out to visit D.C. or NY this year. Will that cut down on my Niagara dollars? Yes. BUT THERE ARE OTHERS who are looking to branch out to a new destination - to Niagara. Passports required or not. Maybe enough of us spreading word of mouth about how great Niagara is - that it’s WORTH it - can make a difference. At least I hope so.

By: niagara

niagara — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:45:13 +0000

Exactly.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:38:40 +0000

My guess is day trips will rise and overnight stays will plummet. Toronto is a fast growing region and those without passports may choose to play in the falls over other similar destination in the States. I think trips will be shorter in duration but more frequent since travel time isn’t very long.

The overnight business Niagara has received mainly from the North East and Midwest US will plummet since many of them w/o passports will choose other similar destinations within the States.

I think the businesses to take the biggest hits will be the hotels and casinos as a result.

By: niagara

niagara — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:37:49 +0000

I respectfully disagree, with most of your points. I can only point to the various reports that tourism is already down, and suffering from the wrong notion the law is already in place. The larger hotels will probably raise prices to even higher levels when the smaller hotels no longer exist. Hilton investing that money, will just reflect in the EXTREME high prices they will charge for those rooms. I dont think any of what I said was extreme really, its going to have a very strong negative affect on the city, NOTHING positive can come of this. Europeans might spend twice as much as any other visitors, however there are 4-5 times as many Americans who visit as compared to Europeans I would assume. I dont think the statement “nobody knows what affect this will cause” can be said here when in reality, it just cant do anything good, so it must be bad. I don’t see how most of the palces of business along Lundy’s Lane will be able to stay in operation when the amount of tourists drops so heavily. I am sure the larger hotels and bigger chains will remain in busines, however I wouldnt count on prices dropping at those places. People have talked at length how Floridas economy will take a hit, and there is no doubt its a cash grab by the US govt. I wont disagree with that. I think my main points are the weekends and the summer will be when this is very visable in the city, because the college crowd will be gone. And the family of 4 from the US wont be coming. And I think it almost guarantees Casino Niagara closing. I cant see two casinos being suppported, because bus trips will be harder to organize for seniors if they require a passport. (hopefully seniors and children wil get an expemtion from this law)…

By: FALLSVIEW

FALLSVIEW — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:13:24 +0000

I always like to take the positive road on these matters and I think we are being a little extreme here, yes this will no doubt have an affect on the smaller Mom and Pops business/hotels! But the simple fact is, that nobody can conclude for sure what affect it will really have on the tourist industry, as a matter of fact it will probably drive down prices and make it a more affordable destination for all to enjoy. The only way that NF’s “Tourist District” will become a ghost town is if the global economy suffers, then in turn we all suffer. And day trips will be the least of our worry’s! Also the Hilton corporation would not be investing 100 million into a 52 story high rise if they thought business in NF was about to go down the tube. I think that Ripley’s is being both smart and safe! Nobody ever talks or even mentions how much Florida’s economy will be hit by the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who vacation there every year, they may keep that extra money for Passports right here in this Country now. It is also proven that on average Europeans spend twice as much as any other visitor to this region. That doesn’t solve the problem of American Day trippers not coming, but it would bring more Canadian Day trippers if prices were reduced. I truly believe that you may not see the same amount of Americans here, but you will still see American plates coming over…no doubt in my mind. As was just published in Niagara This Week, China’s population has a “huge amount of residual income” we need to focus on every corner of the globe more. I truly love the USA like a brother and for the first time in my life, I feel as if our relationship is being taken for granted by those in power! I absolutely agree with Lisa’s first statement about this being a money grab, because if this was about protecting the citizens of the United States against terrorism, this would have been implemented shortly after 2001 not 2008?

By: niagara

niagara — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:51:04 +0000

I know alot of native Canadians and most go to the falls once and then never again, most complain about the prices being so high. I dont think that will support the large amount of hotels in the area. Lundys Lane will look like a ghost town within 5-10 years of this law happening. The mom and pop motels will be driven out of business. Marriotts, Sheratons etc.. they will survive. Niagara Falls will change and not for the better if this happens.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:17:16 +0000

Hey, if we don’t all get a passport…

…the terrorists have won!

I got some theories on how this will affect business, and it will have a huge impact on day-trippers, but the hotels won’t feel the pinch as bad since they take in a lot of people already with passports or are natives from Canada anyway.

It’s going to be bad… the only reason I say “Hilary” for Prez… is ’cause she knows first-hand about this since we’ve been whining about this for a couple years since it was first mentioned. I bet Barak nor Rudy knows about the impact “border cities” will face if passports are required, and I’d love to hear their answer if faced with that question.

By: SaraAB87

SaraAB87 — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:06:18 +0000

I agree, I don’t think a passport will make us any “safer”, its either being done for money reasons or as more of a “feel safe” thing. The customs officials have the right and authority to refuse anyone coming over the border for any reason… so if they suspected someone of something they could just say no and you wouldn’t be allowed into the country.

I can see refusing someone without ID or a driver’s license, because there is nothing to tie back to you or to prove who you are. However there are non driver’s licenses issued by the state for those that don’t drive so this should not be an issue. A passport isn’t gonna help any more than that.

By: BensonsMom

BensonsMom — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:39:32 +0000

I agree that they should just make a better driver’s license if they feel the need to do this, or even some kind of national ID card of some sort. But those 911 terrorists, uh, yeah, HAD passports, so what good are the passports doing exactly? I think they are just using this as yet another way to suck money out of people. And (at least in my area) it seems to be working. There was a story in the local paper recently about how busy the county office is with passport applications. So, if they are rushing through the swamp of work to get these passports out, are they really checking anything? Or just filling someone’s pockets and hurting travel to and from friendly neighboring countries? I could be full of it, but that’s my take on the whole issue. I am sure we will do whatever we need to do to be able to return to the Falls, they just have to let us know what hoops we need to jump through…

By: SaraAB87

SaraAB87 — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:07:55 +0000

Not to mention the large crowds coming over from canada to spend money in Niagara Falls, face it we all might as well leave this area if you live in the city of Niagara Falls (NY) if they put this law in place. The canadians that come here to shop is what is fueling the buffalo/niagara economy from what I see. There are hundreds and hundreds of canadian shoppers here spending money (not only here but in buffalo and amherst as well) while the people who actually reside in the Falls(NY) are spending very little. Our economy in NY would just be devistated if they put this law in place. This is certainly not the way to make jobs and open up new establishments in the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area, in case you haven’t noticed pretty much everyone is already leaving this area, this law is going to make even more people leave and it will become a ghost town.

The canadian shoppers that are coming here and the people that want to make day trips, college students going to the bars across the border (who wants to go to the bars here, they are trash with trashy people in them), heck even I have been to the bars across the border and I am one to NEVER go out to places like that. My opinion of the bars across the border is that they are very clean and safe, of course this was a few years ago so things could have changed. Not to mention all the people that like to take day trips to Toronto, to visit the city and Canada’s wonderland, people going to the hockey games in Toronto, the possibilities are endless and people will not pay $120 just to get a passport to go do these things, they will simply look elsewhere for entertainment.

BTW NY state DOES already have a new, secure drivers license for people ages 25 and under, maybe they could just implement this type of license for all drivers not just those 25 and under.