From the Niagara Falls Review:
We have long supported Kim Craitor’s bid to bring more openness and, it would follow, accountability to government and government agencies.
We think the Niagara Falls MPP’s attempt to pass the Transparency in Public Matters Act as a private member’s bill is laudable and responsible, the type of good work we expect from our elected officials. We regret that it’s even necessary, but such is the way of today’s secretive political world…
Take, for example, the recent tussle the Niagara Parks Commission had with Destination Cinema, owners of Imax Niagara Falls…
As a public agency, the NPC does in fact have every ethical responsibility to nurture and develop and promote tourism in Niagara. And not just its own properties.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Statistics Canada says tourism spending rose 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.
The agency says Canadians spent 2.3 per cent more money in Canada and less on travel outside the country.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Removing the provincial sales tax applied to hotel stays and attractions would provide an economic boost for tourist towns like Niagara Falls, says Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
Doing so would also benefit families and businesses struggling through challenging economic times made worse by skyrocketing energy costs, he said.
“It might just tip the balance for people who are thinking, in light of gas prices, not to take that weekend in Niagara Falls, whether they be from Toronto or London, or, for that matter, Buffalo,” Tory said during a visit to the Cataract City Thursday.
He was joined by Niagara-West Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak, the party’s finance critic and a former tourism minister, and Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci.
I was browsing the City of Niagara Falls web site today and clicked on the What’s New page. Last Tuesday they released the 2007 Annual Business Development Report. It is a 42-page PDF that covers many of the developments in the city. The Hilton, Fudge Factory, Convention Centre, Topple Tower, and more are covered. Check it out!
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Ontario Tourism Minister Peter Fonseca backs the Niagara Parks Commission’s approach in developing tourism attractions and the role it plays in Niagara’s economy even though it competes with private-sector businesses.
“I’m happy. I’m excited,” Fonseca said after visiting Niagara’s Fury, the $7-million attraction the parks commission built onto Table Rock House, at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
“This is a giant step for Ontario tourism,” Fonseca said about the renovations at Table Rock. It was a ringing endorsement for the parks commission from the provincial cabinet minister who is responsible for overseeing the agency.
The parks commission has been criticized by the head of the company that owns the Imax Niagara Falls theatre for developing an attraction he said goes head-to-head with its businesses.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Who says travellers are sticking close to home this summer?
Nearly half of America’s 50 states were represented in the Niagara Parks Commission’s parking lot at Table Rock Sunday afternoon. Throngs of people strolled along the walkway adjacent to the falls, lazed in the park, dined in cafes in the park and on Clifton Hill, speaking in languages that would be a United Nations’ translator’s dream: Japanese, Chinese, South Asian, French, Spanish, German, Italian and ones of Eastern European origin. British and Australian accents were also heard.
But tourism operators like Tim Parker, general manager of Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Ripley’s Moving Theatre and the Louis Toussauds Wax Works said the attractions are down about 10 per cent over a wet Memorial Day weekend last year.
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Wherever you go in Niagara Falls, people who work in tourism are nervous right now. Industry operators are walking on eggshells. Workers are wondering if the summer season will be strong enough to give them the hours they need to make ends meet.
The American economy is in a tailspin. Gas is $1.25 a litre. Niagara’s casinos – once the golden goose of tourism employment – froze wages this year and offered full-time employees “voluntary resignation packages.”
Enter Greg Sorbara.
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