How is Niagara Falls the best place for tourists to visit in the world?
When you get close to the edge of Niagara Falls, the water seems to throw itself over with a mythical recklessness. Force alone is mesmerising: millions of litres of water falling 30 stories, hitting with a thunderous roar and making a tumult of foam and mist that rises up into the air.
Tourists from all over the world walk along the pier and look in awe. When the wind changes, the mist covers them, and they take pictures like there’s no tomorrow. Along the path is an old stone wall that is the only thing that keeps tourists from falling and dying.
As I look at this scene, I realise that the people are truly amazed. The saying seems to fit with so many things about Niagara Falls.
What makes Niagara Falls one of the most popular tourist spots in the world today? Is it the desire to be amazed? Is there something else?
About 12 million people visit Niagara Falls every year. The falls are in a small town in southern Ontario, about two hours’ drive from Toronto. There are 500 waterfalls in the world that are higher and many more that are much more beautiful. But none of them are stronger. Niagara Falls has the most water and the widest falls.
When I tell people in India that I’m from Canada, they always say they want to see Niagara Falls. Like the Taj Mahal, it is known around the world as a wonder of the world, and many people want to see it.
On a sunny May day, I went to look into the Niagara Falls phenomenon and see if there’s a deeper reason for its attraction.
How is Niagara Falls the best place for tourists to visit in the world?
My Niagara Parks guide, Holly, told me, “A million bathtubs full of water go over the edge every minute.” I was sitting at a table in the Elements on the Falls restaurant with a view of the Falls. I looked at the Falls. It was hard for me to see a million baths full of water. I had no trouble getting into a hypnotic state, though.
People act that way when they’re near the Falls. They have done this for a long time. Niagara Falls may have been one of the first places people went to see the sights in the world. Since the middle of the 1600s, early European residents have been taking trips to picnic on the banks of the Niagara River, where the mighty falls drop 52 metres. I don’t know what the Aboriginal people who live in southern Ontario do for fun. In 1697, a book came out with the first drawing by a European.
In the 18th century, tourism grew in popularity and became the main industry in the area by the middle of that century. People thought that going to Niagara Falls was the trip of a lifetime in the 1900s. Did you know that the first person to go over in a barrel was a woman? The 20th century was the age of daredevils and the rise of the world’s honeymoon capital.
I went on many trips to Niagara Falls when I was a kid living in nearby Burlington. But in my case, “because it’s there” could have been the reason.
