whti « Thats Niagara

1Sep/10Off

EDITORIAL — Reducing passport prices would aid tourism industry

Ontario’s tourism industry, particularly in Niagara, has been in one long struggle for the better part of the last decade.

Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, border security in the United States has been an ongoing concern; a byproduct of that has been fewer American visitors heading north.

That scenario was magnified last year when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security implemented its Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, making a passport a necessity if you plan on crossing the border — or more to the point, if you want to enter the United States.

That means any American without a passport can get out of their homeland, but they can’t get back in.

And because fewer than one in three Americans owns a passport, that has manifested in plummeting tourism numbers.

Higher U.S. passport fees could put a damper on local tourism From the Toronto Star: Tourism industry officials in Toronto and...
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Filed under: american visitors, border security, department of homeland security, dhs, homeland security, Niagara Falls Border, Niagara Falls News, Niagara Falls Tourism Industry, passport, terrorist attacks, tourism industry, western hemisphere travel initiative, whti Comments Off

8Jul/10Off

More US visitors in Niagara Falls, Ontario?

Yesterday I linked to a Niagara Falls Review article where there seemed to be some optimism for the summer business. I wanted to add my 2¢…

Last year when June came around, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) came into effect, and all travelers going across the border needed a passport or some other type of secure document. It hit the city hard.

The first thing I noticed last year was that there seemed to be very few students around. Each year previously, you’d see huge groups of kids visiting on school trips. I don’t know for sure where they came from in previous years, but they weren’t anywhere last year. I assume that the US schools didn’t bother with the trip. Now, a year later, there have been lots of kids again. I’m not sure if it is back where it was, but it’s more than last year for sure. I’m sure there are a lot of Canadian schools, but there were t-shirts around from US schools as well. Part of the reason will be that many more people have passports. Another will be that it turns out that school groups where kids are under 18 don’t need passports.

I tweeted last July that Quebec license plates were everywhere. On the other hand, there were very few US license plates to be seen. Anecdotally, there are a lot more licenses plates from US states this year. I mean A LOT more. It isn’t back to the pre-9-11 days, but it is way higher than last year.

I know that the tourism industry is a lot more complicated than this, but based on these two simple observations, business should be better this year. Let’s hope so!

Twitter updates for 2009-07-29 I've been looking for license plates again this year, but...
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19Jan/10Off

Niagara Falls aquarium plan sunk?

From the Niagara Falls Review:

Plans to build an aquarium in Niagara Falls appear to be a casualty of tougher American travel regulations, now that Ripley Entertainment is gearing up to build one at the base of Toronto’s CN Tower.

Canada Lands Company, which owns the CN Tower, picked Ripley last year as its partner to develop three acres of unused property near the base of Canada’s tallest building.

Ripley had plans for years to build an aquarium near Great Wolf Lodge, a resort also owned by Florida-based Ripley Entertainment, the company famous for its Believe it Or Not attractions. But in 2007, the company shelved those plans.

That’s when tourism operators got nervous about the effect the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would have on the number of Americans visiting Canada. That rule requiring American citizens and foreigners to show a passport or other secure document when entering the U.S., came into effect in 2009.

“The one at Great Wolf Lodge has been put on hold for right now. It’s still on hold. It’s still on hold for exactly the same reasons,” said Ripley spokesman Tim O’Brien.