Wallenda to meet with Niagara Parks Commission officials on Thursday
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Nik Wallenda, the American aerialist who wants to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope, will meet with officials from the Niagara Parks Commission this week.
NPC chairwoman Janice Thomson told The Review on Monday that a meeting has been scheduled for Thursday between Wallenda and NPC senior staff.
The meeting will not be open to the public.
“It is an internal staff meeting,” Thomson said. “I will be there and our general manager and her senior managers who will discuss this project with him (Wallenda).”
Thomson expects the meeting will last at least two hours.
The Canadian Press also had a similar article called Daredevil to pitch Niagara Falls tightrope walk again
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Future cloudy for Falls favorite Maid of the Mist
From the Washington Examiner:
Deliberations in Canada over the future of the Maid of the Mist sightseeing boats at Niagara Falls are being closely watched in the United States, where elected and tourism officials want to avoid disruptions to an iconic draw that brings millions of tourists to the Falls each year.
The double-decker boats ferry people from both sides of the Niagara River to the base of the Horseshoe Falls under separate agreements with New York state and Ontario, Canada. The tours have run continuously since 1846.
The Niagara Parks Commission, an arm of the Ontario government that controls the land and buildings around the Canadian falls, approved a 25-year contract with the Maid of the Mist Steamship Co. in 2008. But the lack of competition for the deal drew criticism, so the commission called for bids from competing boat tour operators for the first time.
The multimillion-dollar bids are under review; the commission is expected to make its recommendation to Ontario’s tourism minister in February, though at one point it had anticipated choosing a company by the end of last year.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/travel/2012/01/future-cloudy-falls-favorite-maid-mist/2147516?utm_source=feedburnerdcexaminer%2Fwheels&utm_medium=feedWheels&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dcexaminer%2Fwheels+%28Wheels%29%24%7Bdistribu&utm_content=%24%7BdistributionCha#ixzz1kx3vjMZd
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Maid of the Mist future in jeopardy
From the Buffalo News:
Though Maid of the Mist boats have been shuffling tourists to the base of Niagara Falls for 126 consecutive years, their future on the American and Canadian sides of the cataracts remains uncertain.
In six weeks, the tourism company will find out if it can continue those tours, or whether the Canadian government will award a 25-year lease to another company, possibly with different ideas for the real estate around the cataracts.
“We’re still in the review process,” interim Niagara Parks Commission Chairwoman Janice Thomson said today.
The government had hoped to make a decision by the end of 2011, but needs five or six more weeks, Thomson said.
Some of the comments after the article are worth looking at…
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Parks Commission needs more time for boat tour lease decision
From the Niagara Falls Review:
It has had more than 11 months to pick a winner, but the Niagara Parks Commission says its evaluation team needs more time.
More than a year and a half after a long-term operator for boat tours at the base of the Horseshoe Falls was originally supposed to be found, NPC officials said Thursday the team making the decision needs another “five or six weeks,” before announcing a winning bidder.
The deal will be worth a minimum of $5.5 million per year, not including the commission’s share of annual revenue from ticket and souvenir sales.
Chairwoman Janice Thomson had said she expected to announce who would be awarded a 25-year lease to operate boat tours near the falls by the end of 2011, but she told The Niagara Falls Review the complex process to select a winner is still underway.
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NPC appoints new chair
From Niagara This Week:
After almost five months in the interim position, Janice Thomson has been appointed the chair of the Niagara Parks Commission’s Board of Directors.
While the announcement was made by Tourism and Culture Minister Michael Chan on Wednesday, the appointment was actually effective Nov. 16. Thomson, executive director of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce & Visitor and Convention Bureau, also has experience as a sales and marketing consultant and a former owner and operator of a restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The Niagara Falls Review also had an article called Janice Thomson named permanent chair of NPC
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New buses for Niagara Falls VRT system
From the Niagara Falls Review:
A provider has been chosen to supply new buses to the revitalized peoplemover system for the City.
Niagara Falls Transit and The Niagara Parks Commission jointly placed an order valued at $18 million for a mix of clean-diesel 40-foot Nova LFS and 62-foot articulated LFX buses from the St. Eustache, Que., company.
“Staff at both organizations are impressed with the contemporary design of Nova buses,” Niagara Falls Transit General Manager, Dave Stuart said. “We feel the interior amenities are attractive and well thought out for customers requiring greater levels of accessibility.”
The Niagara Parks Commission (NPC), meanwhile, has worked with Niagara Falls Transit and The City of Niagara Falls on the establishment of an enhanced Visitor Transportation System for the Park and City that will result in the purchase of new clean-diesel vehicles to replace NPC’s aging and inaccessible peoplemover buses.
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Political parties not ignoring tourism, say candidates
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Tourism may not be as prominent an issue in this provincial election as it was in 2007.
But candidates representing the three major parties looking to form government after Oct. 6 are adamant they’re not overlooking an industry they say is so vital to Niagara’s economy.
During the provincial election four years ago, tourism had its own section in the Liberal, Progressive Conservative and New Democratic platforms.
For example, then PC leader John Tory promised more money for marketing.
Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty pledged a “comprehensive competitiveness study,” which led to a $4-million report, which in turn led to the creation of regional tourism organizations tasked to make Ontario’s tourism industry more competitive with other destinations around the world.
While there were specific promises for tourism in 2007, this time around, there are few.
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SAVE NOW with Niagara Falls End of Summer Deals!
Last week I received the latest newsletter from Niagara Falls Tourism:
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Bringing Kimmel show to Canada to cost taxpayers
From the Niagara Falls Review:
Bringing the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show to Ontario will cost four taxpayer-funded funded tourist agencies a total of $450,000, according to the Niagara-based tourism organization involved in the effort to bring segments of the ABC late-night show to Canada.
“There is funding involved. It’s about a half a million dollars for all of the partners and our contribution was $50,000,” said Robin Garrett, the CEO of the Tourism Partnership of Niagara.
The Niagara tourism agency is funded entirely by the provincial tourism ministry, Garrett said.
With Tourism Toronto leading the effort, the four agencies are putting up the $450,000 to pay for the Kimmel show to shoot segments featuring Kimmel security guard sidekick Guillermo Diaz Rodriguez.
Guillermo, as he’s popularly known, will be reporting to back to Kimmel — who will be at his Los Angeles studio — from the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The show will also be shooting in Niagara Falls.
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NPC issues likely to be under the radar during provincial election
From the Niagara Falls Review:
One explosive issue — the Niagara Health System — continues to publicly manifest itself as candidates get ready to hit the provincial election campaign trail.
But decisions surrounding the Niagara Parks Commission’s board of directors and Maid of the Mist boat tour operation will likely continue to unfold out of the public eye.
Six provincially-appointed bureaucrats who sit on the parks commission board will not be replaced until at least November — a month after the provincial election.
Their term was originally set to end in May, but earlier this year, with outstanding business matters yet to be resolved, the board decided it wasn’t practical to change over the appointees.
Their term was extended until November.
And with the election campaign set to begin next week, a freeze on appointments to government boards and agencies is in affect, said Janice Thomson, interim chairwoman at the parks commission.
“The Public Appointments Secretariat has stopped making appointments to any government body until after the election,” said Thomson.
“So nothing will change on that front until after the election.”
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