Niagara Falls plans hotel tax cut to boost tourism [Video]

Factors beyond local control may present challenges to the industry, which is the city’s life blood.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Tourism is the life blood of the economy in Niagara Falls, NY and on Wednesday, civic leaders and hotel owners met to discuss plans on how to get ahead of the potential impact of any problems triggered by forces outside their control.

Those outside forces include the weak Canadian dollar, making tourists spots on our side of the border less affordable for our neighbors to the north, and any anti-American sentiment triggered by friction between the Trump administration and Canadian officials.

“Right now I think everyone is cautious,” said Mayor Robert Restaino, who thinks the city and its visitor based businesses need to be proactive in ways to keep tourists coming.

Restaino proposed to the City Council a temporary, 50% reduction in the city’s hotel occupancy tax, which hotels and motels must charge their guests.

“I don’t want to say …