From the Niagara Falls Review:
Maid of the Mist is seen as an important part of any visit to Niagara Falls, tourists respect the name, and any interruption in its service would “negatively impact” Niagara’s tourism industry, a survey commissioned by the historic boat tour company suggests.
The company hired Leger Marketing to survey 2,308 people on their impressions of Maid of the Mist, just as the Niagara Parks Commission is about to launch a government ordered competitive bidding process that could lead to a new company providing boat tours on the Niagara River.
But the survey results were dismissed as self-serving, unscientific and meaningless by representatives of other companies interested in landing the parks commission lease on the property needed to run a boat tour operation, as well as by critics of the long-standing relationship between Maid of the Mist and the Niagara Parks Commission.
I’m still not sure where I stand on this situation, but any survey commissioned or data supplied by one side or the other is sure to be perceived as biased, especially since surveys are so easy to manipulate by the type of questions asked.
I think this ‘dog’s breakfast’ is going to get worse before it gets resolved and will probably result in a major overhaul at the NPC.