There is a fantastic article in today’s Niagara Falls Review about the Destination Marketing Fund (DMF). Apparently there will be another article tomorrow.
Guests staying at Fallsview hotels like the Embassy Suites and Hilton, as well as motels like the Blue Moon and Candlelight Motor Inn a little further afield, see a three per cent destination marketing fee added to the pre-tax room rate on their bill.
Guests at the Great Wolf Lodge and the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, however, do not.
Diners at Applebee’s and TGI Fridays in the city’s tourist sections have the extra charge added to their bills.
Those who eat at Niagara Parks Commission properties only pay the applicable government taxes.
Pick up a T-shirt or trinket at Souvenir City on River Road or the Fallsview Mini Mart and pay a premium; be spared the extra change at Jo-An Souvenirs on Victoria Avenue.
Golf at the Grand Niagara, Eagle Valley or Willowdell and there’s no charge added to your green fee.
At Thundering Waters, you’re charged three per cent more.
Ask what the charge is for, and expect to be told anything from, “It’s a Niagara Falls tax” to “It pays for the lights and the fireworks at the falls.”
Or get the correct answer – given only once in about 40 requests for an explanation: “It’s a fee added to bills in the tourist district used to improve the streetscape, pay for part of the new convention centre and advertise Niagara Falls outside the area.”