According to the CEO of Tourism Kingston — one of only a handful of Ontario cities in the path of totality for yesterday’s solar eclipse — all the effort surrounding the event was well worth it, leaving the city poised for a promising tourism season.
An economic impact calculation will be conducted over the coming months, including reference data from credit card usage, cell phone data and other visitor information that will provide a sense of how significant the event was, said Megan Knott, adding she could not confirm the number of visitors in Kingston for the event. A news release from the City of Kingston said that the estimated number of visitors ended up being less than the initial projection of 500,000.
But even without the data, traffic at hotels and tourism attractions is a “strong indicator” that pulling out the tourism stops earlier in the year than usual paid off, she said.
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Knott said the big event, as well as all of the events planned around it, was “better than anticipated” thanks to the community coming together and tourism operators pulling out all the stops for a “once-in-a-lifetime” tourism offering.
“The No. 1 thing we just couldn’t control about this event was the weather and, in the end, it was on our side, which was a huge feat in and of itself,” said Knott. “There was lots of anticipation, but not a lot of ‘knowns’ in the expectation column. We knew the weather report, we knew we had glasses, but we didn’t know how it was going to roll out.”
In preparation for an influx of visitors, the City of Kingston planned strategic road closures, overflow parking and free public transit. Kingston Tourism spent the weeks leading up to the eclipse recommending that visitors walk, take transit and plan for longer travel times.
Uniquely positioned directly in the path of totality for yesterday’s eclipse, Kingston was one of the few cities in North America that reached nighttime-like darkness as the moon eclipsed the sun. To leverage the rare event, Kingston, along with many other cities in the path of totality, planned unique offerings for visitors.
According to a news release from the city, more than 10,000 people spent the night in hotels and an estimated 20,000 people flocked to the viewing sites set up around Kingston. Of those, 1,500 people at Grass Creek Park.
The eclipse viewing at Fort Henry National Historic Site, which included guest speakers, local entertainment, and a special viewing party was sold out and hosted an estimated 4,000 attendees, said Knott. Hotels were “booked full — period,” she said. The city said 170,000 pairs of eclipse glasses were handed out.
Many visitors were day-trippers from Ottawa or Toronto, Knott said, but there were also tourists who planned week-long getaways, staying in Kingston for a few days to watch the eclipse before heading to Ottawa and Montreal or west toward the GTA and Niagara regions.
Kingston’s Ahoy Rentals, a canoe, kayak and bicycle rental service, had a successful day, with “perfect weather for paddling” and all rentals booked, the owner told Knott in an email shared with OBJ.
Northeast of Kingston, the municipality of Mallorytown was in the path of totality, and local solar brewery ArBru took full advantage.
The brewery relies on 32 solar panels to power the 2,400-square-foot brew house and beer store. An eclipse party at ArBru featured food and drink specials and tours of the solar-powered brewery operations. The brewery offered a live broadcast of the solar power production throughout the day, including the drop during the eclipse.
By the time the eclipse had begun, ArBru owner Phil Audet said the brewery was standing-room only, with all of the indoor dining space reserved. The brewery had a great view of the eclipse, said Audet, and was able to turn on the patio lights during totality for a “really cool vibe.”
“There were a few hundred people through by the end of the day, for sure,” said Audet. “It was our busiest day this year so far, and by far the best thing we’ve ever done.”
According to sales data from payments technology company Square, restaurants on the eclipse’s path of totality saw a jump in sales on Monday as people flocked to find the best spots to see the celestial event.
“The eclipse was genuinely a unique cosmic event, but also a unique event for commerce,” said Ara Kharazian, research and data lead at Square.
Square said on Tuesday that restaurants that use its technology in Niagara Falls, which saw a huge influx of visitors for the eclipse, saw 404 per cent higher sales than the average Monday in 2024.
Hamilton saw a 67 per cent jump, while Montreal restaurants saw sales rise 55 per cent.
The increases mirrored a similar pattern in the U.S., where some counties saw restaurant sales rise by more than 500 per cent.
This kind of spike in spending is almost as rare as an eclipse, Kharazian said, as multiple places across North America saw sales skyrocket.
In Knott’s view, it’s the beginning of a very sunny summer season.
“I hope day trippers could say, ‘This was so cool, I’ll come back to see what else they have to offer’ and those that stayed for a while would like to see us in July or holiday season.”
Knott said volunteers, hospitals, emergency services, tourism operators, schools, front-line services and city officials all worked together as a “well-oiled machine” to keep roads and traffic clear and prioritize safety.
“The city has never looked better. It was safe, clean and working well together to make sure everyone got to where they needed to go to see what they came to see.”
And if temperatures continue to rise above seasonal norms due to climate change, Knott said there’s an opportunity to expand the traditional tourism season.
“We are situated on water, so there’s more of an opportunity in the summer when more can be done in open water, but with the environmental impacts we’re seeing in Kingston, we don’t have that divide anymore that says to stop winter tourism and then move into summer tourism; that doesn’t exist here anymore.”
With files from The Canadian Press
