Buffalo, Syracuse saw biggest economic impact from solar eclipse tourism

BUFFALO, N.Y. – According to Bloomberg, Syracuse and Buffalo experienced a greater boost than most other major US cities in or near the path of totality, according to data on road congestion, foot traffic and credit card spending.

The boost most likely came from their proximity to New York City and other East Coast population centers.

Syracuse saw a 28% year-over-year increase in spending at hotels and restaurants for the period from last Friday through Monday, double the US average change of 13.7%. That’s according to SpendTrend data from Fiserv, which captures all card-based transactions at millions of merchant locations nationwide.

A look at weekend activity at hotels, restaurants and other hospitality destinations also shows Syracuse and Buffalo with some of the biggest increases, at about 50%, according to foot traffic data from Placer.ai. That’s compared to the similar weekend a year ago, which included Easter Sunday.