By RAY SPITERI Niagara Falls Review Posted 23 hours ago
There are no border-crossing delays in Niagara for 90% of the time, despite what many in the public may think.
And the remaining 10% can be managed with better communication, advanced planning, staffing and traffic management, a recent study says.
The study addresses changes at the border during the past 10 years, and the impacts on residents, businesses and visitors.
Participants say the decline in tourism began with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Heightened security measures at the border led to travellers needing passports or other secure documents to cross between Canada and the U.S.
Add to that a global economic crisis, health scares and skyrocketing gasoline prices, and you have what many in the tourism industry refer to as the perfect storm — too many cross-border travel challenges that too many visitors would rather not encounter.
In 2010, the Binational Tourism Alliance hired consultants Deloitte & Touche.
"Our objective was to get an accurate assessment of the current situation at our Niagara border crossings in order to deal with the many myths that have been created about the challenges of cross-border travel through this region over the past decade," said Arlene White, executive director of the alliance.
"The study more than fulfilled that objective by confirming there are far fewer delays at the border crossings than the public currently perceives."
The study also suggested improvements that are essential to the economic growth and prosperity of the binational region.
One of the underlying messages was that leisure travel into Niagara has been impacted by a lack of marketing and the development of competitive offerings.
White said as the tourism market declined, budgets were cut. Many businesses began shifting more of their promotional material to close-to-home vacations, rather than out-of-town visitation.
She said overnight, planned travel has not been negatively impacted "to a great degree." But same-day, last-minute travel numbers, have gone down. She said some of that has to do with the public perception there is a long wait to cross the border.
"You see those pixel-boards above the highways, but they are not far enough out. There needs to be more signage from Toronto out, from New York City, from Pennsylvania, saying zero delays, zero delays 340 days of the year.
"And when there is a delay, our stakeholders need to be part of the messaging that promotes the value-added products customers are looking for when they come here. That way, those customers can plan ahead, find alternate routes, and get down here."
Study results have already been presented to governments and business in Buffalo. More events are being planned for Niagara, Hamilton and Toronto. Recommendations will be released later this month.
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