Tourist numbers still falling
Local businesspeople confirm disturbing trend reported by Statistics Canada
JENNIFER PELLEGRINI
Local News - Tuesday, November 21, 2006 Updated @ 7:07:50 AM
Affordable meals and accommodation and aggressive advertising in the rubber-tire market are what's needed to stem the tide of Canadians flooding across the river on holiday while Americans spend their vacation dollars at home.
That's the opinion of one hospitality industry insider, Silvio Garofalo, manager of the Beef Baron on Centre Street.
"Niagara Falls needs to, I feel, start looking in their own backyards before they start marketing outside the area," said Garofalo.
Like many restaurants in the city, the Beef Baron has noticed a decline in American visitors since 2001.
"It's not like what it used to be. Before 9/11, it was just Americans. After all the rhetoric and the nonsense happening around the world, all of that has changed," he said.
According to Statistics Canada, which releases tourism industry information each month, trips to Canada declined in six of Canada's 12 largest markets, including the United States, in September.
It was the seventh month in 2006 that saw a dip in the number of Americans crossing the border.
The statistics report showed just 2.4 million Americans reported overnight stays in Canada in September, a decline of 0.6 per cent over August, and 1.1 million Americans took a day trip to Canada - a decline of 0.9 per cent over the month before.
Japan's figure was even worse: The number of Japanese visitors to Canada declined by 9.
6 per cent in September, the largest single decline in the report.
The only bright spot on the horizon was China. A record-high 14,000 Chinese nationals travelled to Canada in September, a 13.7 per cent increase over August's figure.
Garofalo said it's time for industry insiders to think differently about how they're going to attract tourists.
"Whatever it takes, make Niagara Falls a year-round destination, starting with making it a lot more affordable."
He believes with competition from resorts angling to lure people south of the border - especially in the winter - the city has to do more to bring people to Canada.
Luring the lucrative dollars from families in Toronto and other parts of southern Ontario will help boost tourism numbers throughout the year, he said.
But the industry has to look at its own image and define itself as a place to go whatever the weather, in order to make it appealing and affordable to people who decide on the spur of the moment to visit the Honeymoon Capital of the World.
"The problem is, because of the short season, (tourism operators) look to make as much as they can. I'm not saying cut your own throat, but I am saying to make this as affordable as possible. If the City of Niagara Falls and the heavy hitters came together to make this a year-round destination ... the return will be better for the city," Garofalo said.
Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce president Carolyn Bones said the government also has to intervene, funding marketing programs so the city can promote itself in Ontario, the "rubber-tire" market of New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and throughout the rest of North America and the world.
"My first reaction on hearing the news is my thoughts turned to the federal government rescinding the program for GST rebates for visitors to Canada," said Bones.
It's doubtful the government's Sept. 26 announcement to scrap the GST rebate for visitors had much impact on travellers to Canada for much of the month. But Bones said news like that doesn't make tourists feel as though Canada welcomes them - or their billions of vacation dollars - particularly as the country, and this city, struggle to recover from three difficult years.
"I don't think it's appropriate for them to be rescinding the program and the Statistics Canada results released (Monday) confirm that," she said.
jpellegrini@nfreview.com
Tourism: by the numbers
Canada's tourism industry has suffered several blows in recent years - from the effects of Sept. 11, 2001 to confusion over the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security's requirement for American travellers to have passports when they re-enter the country at land borders.
Here's a snapshot of Canada's travel industry, provided by Statistics Canada. The numbers reflect the period between January and March 2006.
- An estimated 617,000 overseas visitors travelled to Canada between January and March 2006, a 0.5 per cent decline over the same time in 2005.
- Visitors from the U.K. came to Canada more frequently than any other country. In the first quarter of 2006, 125,000 U.K. residents travelled to Canada.
- Japan had the second-largest number of overseas vistors, with 60,000.
- Overall, overseas visitors spent $816 million in Canada - an 8.1 per cent decline in spending over the first three months of 2005.
- Washington State had the largest number of U.S. visitors to Canada - 291,000 in the first quarter of 2006, compared to 303,000 in the same time last year. New York was next (268,000/283,000), followed by Michigan (251,000/288,000), Pennsylvania (80,000/103,000), Massachusetts (79,000/91,000), Ohio (77,000/81,000), Maine (57,000/63,000), Illinois (52,000/58/000) amd New Jersey (48,000/56,000). Only Californians increased their number of visits to Canada in the first quarter of 2006 - 121,000, compared to 108,000 in 2005, an 11.9 per cent increase.
I agree with the points that Silvio Garofalo made in regards to affordability! I live here, and I quarantee I would spend more on my kids in the tourist district, if I could afford it. NF needs to find a new marketing strategy, they need to be looking outside of the US a little more.
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