From the Niagara Falls Reporter:
If Easter week is any sort of barometer, the 2011 tourism season is going to be an exceptionally good one for Niagara Falls. Tourists were out en masse, and even the reality of $4-per-gallon gas prices did not keep them from traveling to see the world’s most famous waterfall.
The Hilton Fallsview and Suites in Niagara Falls, Ont., was filled to capacity with guests representing states from all over the union, along with a number of European, South American and Middle Eastern countries.
No one seemed to be clutching their wallets too closely, as they freely spent on sightseeing, attractions, shopping and food. All of this came despite the fact that the area’s top attraction, the Maid of the Mist boat ride, was dry-docked due to unseasonably cold weather that caused a very late release of the Lake Erie ice boom.
The Cave of the Winds and the Journey Behind the Falls operated at diminished capacity. The Cave could only allow visitors a ride to the base of the American Falls, as their famed wooden decks have yet to be rebuilt for the season, while the Journey dealt with falling rock that closed their outside observation decks to visitors in the early part of last week.
With the dawn of another busy and profitable season upon us, it seems the proper time for a primer as to how all local residents can best be prepared to handle and augment the big tourism push that fuels the economy of our city and county.
Nothing frosts the hardworking people in the tourism sector of Niagara Falls, N.Y., more than when they hear tales from tourists that locals seem to go out of their way to send people across the border to Canada.