Graham

Parks to lead marketing group

From the Niagara Falls Review: Tourism officials in Niagara will speak with one voice as they try to attract more marketing cash to the region. Industry groups have agreed on a partnership they hope Ontario will accept as a regional tourism organization. The provincial government announced the creation of 13 new tourism regions, including one…

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Olympic take on Oh Canada Eh

From the Niagara Falls Review: Thought the Olympics closing ceremonies looked familiar? If you’ve seen the Oh Canada Eh dinner show in Niagara Falls, you weren’t imagining things. From the moose to the lumberjacks to the hockey players, the cheeky celebration of all things Canadiana was like a carbon copy of the award-winning show that…

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Vanessa Neil, Sword Swallower, at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum

As you read on Saturday, I went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum to see the sword swallower. This was the second year that they did it, and I thought Vanessa Neil was better than Riley Schillaci, last year’s performer. I can’t really explain what I didn’t like about Riley, but she just didn’t…

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Twitter updates for 2010-03-01

RT @bcapphoto #FF My favorite sources of local news/info – @610CKTB @Pelham_Library @NFChamber @nfblog @niafallsreview – Thanks @bcapphoto ! # RT @fallsavenue Breakfast Television will be LIVE at Fallsview Indoor Waterpark, Monday Mar 8 6:30am – 9:00 am… http://schmap.it/xkAqUw # I uploaded a YouTube video — Sword Swallower at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum…

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Higher U.S. passport fees could put a damper on local tourism

From the Toronto Star: Tourism industry officials in Toronto and Niagara Falls say they are shocked to learn the U.S. State Department plans to raise passport fees by as much as 35 per cent. A new adult passport would cost $135, up from $100. Since last summer, passports have been mandatory to cross the Canada-U.S….

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Tough act to swallow

From the Niagara Falls Review: Think your line of work got hurt in the recession? Try sword swallowing. “The last few years have been tough, economically. People aren’t going to pay $1,000 to have a sword swallower at their kids’ birthdays,” said Vanessa Neil, who shocked a Niagara Falls crowd Saturday when she downed a…

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See the sword — and then swallow it

From the Niagara Falls Review: It’s not a holiday yet, but sword swallowers have made today their own. World Sword Swallowers Day will see performers send steel down the hatch at more than a dozen Ripley’s Believe It or Not museums throughout the world, including Clifton Hill. Toronto’s Vanessa Neil does the deed at 2:27…

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‘Extremely bleak’ conditions still dog Niagara’s tourism industry

From the Niagara Falls Review: The Niagara Parks Commission wasn’t the only business to struggle in 2009. The tourism industry as a whole had to scratch and claw its way through a year hampered by unseasonable weather, new passport requirements and a deadly influenza strain. “It’s extremely bleak out there,” said Niagara Falls Tourism chairman…

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