BUFFALO, N.Y. — There is an uplifting update regarding Erie County's tourism industry.
After emerging from the dark days of COVID, travelers helped Buffalo and Erie County set a $2.2 billion record for spending last year according to a state funded study.
As permanent residents, we may now take Buffalo's revitalization for granted. But folks from elsewhere are coming here with those destination dollars for tourism.
Visit Buffalo Niagara President and CEO Patrick Kaler told 2 On Your Side, "The highest we'd ever gotten was $1.9, and so to be at $2.2 billion coming out of a pandemic, without the resurgence of meetings and conventions coming back, as well as Canadian travelers not coming back, this is really exciting news for Buffalo and Erie County."
Kaler says that state-commissioned Oxford Economics Company tourism study showed where they're coming from and why.
"Buffalo has been featured in so many great articles lately and people are taking notice of that," Kaler said. "We've also seen a resurgence or the opportunity in new growth potential markets such as Boston, Washington D.C, and Philadelphia who have a propensity to travel longer here which means they're just going to spend more money."
So what are the regional drawing cards drawing those dollars from visitors?
"Our waterfront, the Darwin Martin House, now the Buffalo AKG, the possibility of bringing cruise ships to our destination. It's really lining up that we are a year round destination to attract several different types of visitor profiles," Kaler said.
But Kaler points out there is still a destination downer for Erie County. While we now have a refurbished convention center, the logistics of lodging still hurts.
"We are challenged by our hotel inventory at this time by not having the 474 rooms at the Buffalo Grand Hotel,-the former Adams Mark. That's making it a bit more difficult for us to book large conventions," Kaler said.
Kahler says that perhaps large scale hotel chains and developers will take note of this growth and consider a new Buffalo or Erie County location.
And he adds that ongoing Great Lakes cruise ship feasibility study for Buffalo as a port city should be done by the end of the year with factors like infrastructure for a terminal, food services, and passenger lodging.