NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — People from all over the world are expected to travel to the Western New York region for the total solar eclipse on April 8th.
Many school districts have already announced students will have that day off and hotels are either booked or filling up fast.
According to Destination Niagara USA, Niagara Falls is expecting a big boost in tourism due to the eclipse, bringing close to $1 million to the local economy.
Sara Harvey is the Director of Communications for Destination Niagara USA. She says even Nik Walenda's tightrope walk didn't attract the amount of people they are expecting.
"I think people from all over the world are excited for this eclipse and there are people called eclipse chasers that come and they go to these events and so being able to see the ellipse over Niagara Falls is a bucket list thing," Harvey says.
She says many hotels are already booked or filling up fast, campgrounds are planning on opening early for the season and people are renting out their houses.
7 News also spoke with Jason Berger, the owner of Skydive the Falls. Berger says dozens of people have signed up to skydive during the eclipse near the Falls.
"In the skydiving world, there are so many things that are always new and different and this will add to that new and different," Berger says.
He says as soon as they announced they were offering skydiving during the eclipse in Niagara Falls they sold out in just over seven minutes.
Stephen Hatzis from Queens is one of dozens who will be skydiving that day. This will be his second jump during an eclipse, his last one was in 2017 in Oregon. He expects this one to be even more magnificent with the scenery above and below.
"I mean that's going to be incredible just being able to do it over the falls...the last time there was an eclipse we were in the middle of farmland," Hatzis says.
Skydive The Falls says its skydiving tickets are sold out but there are still tickets for a viewing party they are hosting at their airport. For information, you can visit its website here.
For information on tourism in Niagara Falls, you can click here.
