Diverse, ‘fresh’ attractions help drive Falls tourism
It has been a “tremendous” summer so far as the peak tourism season hits its stride in the Honeymoon Capital, says the president of Niagara Falls Tourism.
“I’d say right now businesses are tracking even with where they were last year and knowing that last year was really a record year — the last two years were real banner years — that’s a good achievement,” said Janice Thomson.
She said the combination of a low Canadian dollar and the number of diverse attractions continues to drive strong visitation numbers. Niagara Falls attracts about 14 million visitors a year.
“(The attractions are) staying fresh ... and there are always new reasons to come and visit. The feedback we’re hearing through social media is that visitors are very engaged and very interested in all of the experiences of Niagara Falls.”
Thomson pointed to the new, multimillion-dollar, 0.8-hectare, Arctic-themed splash pad and express train at Marineland as a new attraction for families.
She said Clifton Hill is “flourishing,” pointing to the distillery that recently opened at the corner of Clifton Hill and Falls Avenue.
Niagara Distillery & Billy Bones BBQ, which has two floors and an outdoor patio, specializes in handcrafted spirits and smoked barbecue selections.
“That’s attracting lots of people,” said Thomson.
“The fireworks every night is a guaranteed treat for people — there’s no cost (for people to attend). It’s drawing overnight visitors and the hotels are all reporting solid numbers.”
David Adames, chief executive officer at Niagara Parks Commission, said attendance was up about 8.9 per cent from April 1 to June 30, boosted by strong grouptour attendance.
“We think some of our international markets were up during that timeframe as well.”
He said the city had to weather “a very wet spring.”
“However, I think July will come in either flat or up a little bit, but I don’t know that (for sure) quite yet,” he said. “We’re going to analyze July now to see what may have either changed or continued from the first quarter.”
“Our golf courses were really challenged in the first quarter, so we did see a little bit of a decline in rounds early on and that has rebounded more in June and July.”
He said transportation numbers are up on the Wego bus service and Falls Incline.
“We’ve got a strong, positive reaction to our first-phase renovation at Table Rock. The last three to four years, we’ve seen good growth in the shoulder seasons, which means spring and fall, so we’re anticipating strong (numbers from now) right through Thanksgiving.”