Sustaining Its Culture through Tourism

Diagram of Tourism Types

With the end of November here, I feel the pressure to get all my work complete as I try to wrap everything up from this Off Campus Program in Buffalo NY. While synthesizing my gathered work, I stumbled upon some interesting readings which assisted with my re-designing phase of my synthesized work. With the synthesized graphic representations, I’ve decided to developed some new innovative designs myself that will help with the tourism in the urban fabric of Niagara Falls, NY.

My comprehensive approach to the re-designing was to incorporate the three fundamental principles into the planning and design. The principles were respecting the historic context, implementing ecological needs, and accommodating the contemporary needs and demands of the visitors. With such high rates of vacancy in the surrounding buildings and areas, I wanted to restructure the sites as a means of heritage tourism and recreational opportunities. There was also an idea of re-designing to make it so that The Falls were more like one place instead of two different countries. Instead of having the American side and the Canadian side of the Falls, it would be just known as one location called the Niagaras. 

After further synthesis, I’ve narrowed in on the specific types of tourism I will be focusing on in terms of its sustainability to Niagara Falls as a tourist icon. They include the following: Community Heritage, Recreational/Program, Eco-tourism, Adventure/Honeymoon, and Mass Tourism. Niagara Falls State Park was a well-known honeymoon capital in the early nineteenth century til now. There has been a lot of history in The Falls including many battles, which is honored by statues in the park along with the surrounding streets leading to the park such as cobblestone road also known as Old Falls Street. With such a vast amount of history here in The Falls, we must provide ways to sustain its culture for future generations to admire and experience.

- Edward L