The Cities of Syracuse and Oswego are reporting an economic boost from eclipse-related tourism.
Despite the overcast skies in both cities, hotels were fully booked and there was increased foot traffic throughout the downtown areas frequenting local businesses.
Oswego Mayor Robert Corradino said traditionally the first week of April is a slow period but said Eclipse Weekend was a big economic boost.
"Our sales tax revenue is our number one source of revenue for the City of Oswego," Corradino said. "The bed tax from the hotels goes directly to the county, and I'm sure when they look at the numbers, they're going to see a substantial increase in the bed tax money that they're getting in this quarter because of this eclipse. All the restaurants are busy which means people are making more money."
A report from Bloomberg said Syracuse had the biggest tourism-related foot traffic bump than any other metro area in the U.S.
Danny Liedka, President of Visit Syracuse, said preliminary numbers estimate at least a $16 million impact on the region. He said the focus now turns toward getting Eclipse visitors to come back.
"If they used their credit card here or their location services were on, on their cell phone, we're gonna know who they are," Liedka said. "We're going to be able to send advertisements or stories, or what have you about our region to try to get them back. That's the great part about technology. It really narrows down instead of casting a big net and trying to catch a couple of fish. Now it's much more targeted."
