How Much Money Did The Eclipse Bring To Western New York?

It’s hard to believe it’s been over two weeks since Western New York came to a standstill to witness the 2024 Great Solar Eclipse. 

Even though cloudy skies threatened to damper the day, some areas around Buffalo lucked out just in time when a break in the clouds arrived just in time for a jaw-dropping view. Other parts of the Buffalo area weren’t so lucky, but the eerie darkness and the gasps from their fellow eclipse watchers still managed to bring goosebumps. 

READ MORE: Scenes From The Solar Eclipse Across Western New York

Because Buffalo and Niagara Falls were the largest cities in New York in the path of totality, officials predicted that 1 million visitors would travel to the area for the eclipse. That number ended up being an overshot (probably due to the weather forecast), but the region still hosted thousands of visitors for the event, leading to an economic boom across Western New York. 

How Much Money Did The Eclipse Bring To Western New York?

Hotels, restaurants, retail stores and transportation companies in Buffalo and Niagara Falls benefited immensely from the influx of travelers for the eclipse. Just how much money did they make?

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Although there weren’t as many people as originally predicted, according to an estimate from Visit Buffalo Niagara (via The Buffalo News) the total solar eclipse brought in an additional $14.7 million dollars to the local economy, including $7.4 million for local hotels alone. That could be because hotel rates skyrocketed during the long eclipse weekend (the average local room rate the night before the eclipse was $305), but hotel occupancy across Western New York was way up as well (84% of rooms in the region were booked on April 7th). 
Considering Buffalo never got the major traffic issues, loss of cell service, zoo animal freakouts, or any of the other major disasters that were predicted, we say that’s not too shabby!