Don’t Pay the Tourism Tax in Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls welcomes more than 12 million visitors from around the world every year to its magnificent waters from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario cascading into the Niagara River. With all of this tourism, the Canadian side decided to take advantage of unknowing travelers by charging a fee. This fee, however, is not mandatory and you can ask for it to be taken off your bill.

The Destination Marketing Fee allows businesses all over the province of Ontario to charge unknowing customers money in order to generate funds for marketing and tourism development. The money goes to buying fireworks for the nightly display, any festivals hosted by the city and all of the flowers that line the streets. There is no set percentage on what the fee actually is. Some restaurants will charge 3.8 percent, while a hotel may jump up to charging 10 percent.

Businesses do not tell travelers about this fee. If a customer knows about it, they will gladly take it off of the bill, but only when they say out loud they do not want to pay the tourism tax. Along with every percentage being different, the way it is written on the bill is different as well. A combination of three letters will be displayed at the bottom of the check to signify the charge.

If you are thinking about visiting Niagara Falls in the future, make sure to tell your server, concierge or attraction attendant you do not wish to participate in the tax. You can save a lot of money and won’t feel scammed.