A barrage of visitors is usually a good thing in Niagara Falls. But maybe there’s too much of a good thing.
Associated Press reports that Niagara Region has declared a state of emergency as it prepares to welcome up to a million visitors for the solar eclipse on April 8. The mid-afternoon event will be the first total solar eclipse in Ontario since 1979, and the moon is expected to entirely block the sun for a few minutes.
No less a source than National Geographic declared Niagara Falls as one of the best places to see the eclipse, which was local officials worried about too many visitors.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati a few weeks ago said he expects the city will have more visitors than it’s ever had in a single day. And that’s saying a lot.
If you plan to go, be aware that it might cost you a pretty penny. I went to Expedia’s Canada site today and the Embassy Suites Fallsview Hotel is charging $1,339 for a room on April 7. With taxes and fees, that jumps to $1,649! The Hilton Fallsview, on the other hand, is a relative bargain at $1,210 with fees and taxes. The Vittoria Hotel and Suites is a steal: $637 with taxes and fees.
Mind you, you could book a room on April 8 for after the eclipse is over and save. The Embassy Suites Fallsview for April 8 costs $528 CAD all in; about one-third the cost of a room the night before.
It’s not a lot better across the border. Expedia is listing a room at the Hampton Inn Buffalo-Amherst (not quite Niagara Falls) for $1,146 CAD with fees and taxes included. Yikes.
I also read that U.S. and Canadian customs officers are expecting big lineups at border crossings, so keep that in mind, too.
Other areas of North America also are expecting big crowds, as the eclipse will take place over the Pacific coast of Mexico in the morning and then make its way northeast, sliding over Texas and the U.S. Midwest before reaching Ontario and Quebec.
It seems many people also plan to hop on a plane that day and see the eclipse from 35,000 feet. I’m guessing most planes have already sold out of window seats, so you may be out of luck if you haven’t booked a ticket yet.
The eclipse could mean crowded parking lots at airports and long lines at security checkpoints, CBS News reports.
Passengers on April 8 should expect air traffic delays and an unusually high number of drones in the skies, FAA Senior Technical Advisor Kevin Morris said in an advisory video.
THAT AND THIS: TRAVEL NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Stockholm, Sweden. Raphael Andres/Unsplash
MSN.com reports that worldwide spending on business travel this year is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic levels. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, business travel spending around the globe was set at $1.4 trillion USD. That dropped to just $697 billion in 2021, MSN said. But it’ s slowly been building back up and the Global Business Travel Association says business travel spending could reach $1.7 trillion by 2027. That’s very good news for the tourism and hospitality industry, especially in big cities that have been hit by a lack of business travel … Southwest Airlines will cease flying between Los Angeles International Airport and Maui on April 20. The service was introduced a few years ago. Southwest is keeping its flights from LAX to Honolulu. It also will continue flying to Maui from several mainland airports, including Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Phoenix and Las Vegas … Google Flights says the most popular Canadian cities for this coming summer are, in order, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal … Air Canada will begin direct flights to Stockholm from both Toronto and Montreal on June 14. The airline also is adding flights between Montreal and Madrid. I was only in Stockholm once, and that was in 1979. I’d love to go back as I found it to be one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen … Carnival Cruise Line says it’s shifting its Baltimore operations to Norfolk, Virginia in the wake of the Baltimore bridge collapse. Carnival has said the move could cost it $10 million USD. Other cruise lines also will have to cancel Baltimore stops for a while … I loved my visit to the Isle of Arran in Scotland last fall. Here’s a story from The Telegraph that also lauds the island …
