“Agri-tourism is huge now,” said Kate Scaglione, director of marketing and communications for the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. “I think the people want the authentic experience. I think that’s really what Niagara County has to offer. It’s not some plastic, manufactured experience.”
Scaglione told members of the Niagara USA Chamber during a tourism breakfast at the Top of the Falls Restaurant on Goat Island that visitor stays have extended to two or three days. As outdoor attractions grow, Scaglione thinks that will continue to improve.
One of those attractions — the region’s fishing — is also poised to grow in the next few years.
Bill Hilts Jr., NTCC’s outdoors specialist, believes several upcoming projects, including the Niagara River Greenway and a $12 million settlement from Occidental Chemical Corp. that will be used on projects to improve recreational fishing in Lake Ontario and its tributaries will help expand outdoor tourism opportunities.
Hilts told chamber members that the convergence of outdoor projects — including a feasibility study to determine whether the region could support a hatchery — is unprecedented.
A hatchery, Hilts believes, could become a tourist attraction in itself.
“If we can turn a tourist into a fisherman, the economic impact will be that much greater,” he said.
The region’s outdoor tourism industry is also growing as the Niagara Wine Trail expands. A 10th winery on the trail is scheduled to open in August at Lyn Oaken Farms in Orleans County.
“It will be the anchor on the east,” said Domenic Carisetti, winemaker for four of the trail’s wineries.
Carisetti told the chamber members that he sees the nascent wine trail as a gateway from Canada and a connector to what could one day become one large wine trail region from Niagara-on-the-Lake to the Finger Lakes.
“If you want to improve your business, find a way to partner with a winery,” Carisetti said. “It’s not rocket science. When people come to a winery ... they want to stay, they want to eat.”
Denise Jewell at 282-2311, ext. 2245.
