From the Niagara Falls Review:
A Toronto tour operator has blasted the city’s Destination Marketing Fee (DMF) in an e-mail forwarded to council members, saying it “damages the image of Niagara as a welcoming tourist destination.”
Jacob Stevens, owner of Tripsetter Inc., is angry that the fee – up to 10% at some hotels – is “unaccountable,” and makes the cost of visiting Niagara more prohibitive.
“By imposing an optional fee, (it) only stains the image of Niagara Falls and heightens the ‘tourist trap’ perception,” he wrote in a recent e-mail. “As a result, this can negatively influence one’s decision to visit or not.”
It reflects many of the same concerns shared on open forums like Trip Advisor, but when Stevens brought it up with a Niagara Falls Tourism member, he was told Trip Advisor is “fake news.”