Tourists, and especially Orthodox tourists, are flocking back to Niagara Falls this summer after a long COVID hiatus.

“Tourism is booming here. From our perspective, it’s basically back to pre-COVID levels,” said Rabbi Zalman Zaltzman in an email. 

Rabbi Zaltzman runs the Chabad house in Niagara Falls, along with his wife Perla—and summer is the busiest time for them. They provide three Shabbat meals every weekend, host a kosher restaurant in their welcome centre, run a minyan, handle large groups of visitors, assist with local emergencies involving Jewish people, and provide programming for the local community including running a day camp. 

He said they expect to sell out every Shabbat, with over 250 people coming to enjoy a meal. On top of this, a few hundred people come through their kosher restaurant and purchase their deeply discounted tickets to attractions every week. 

“To my knowledge, this is a very unique arrangement where anyone can enjoy a beautiful Shabbat with fine dining and a wonderful Jewish ambiance. I don’t think there is anything like it in Canada,” he said. 

Naomi Slutsky and her husband, Meyer, visited Niagara Falls this past Canada Day long weekend. Slutsky, who lives in Thornhill, Ont., identifies as modern Orthodox.

“Chabad was incredible for Shabbat. The ambiance was so elegant. The meals were scrumptious… I was awestruck,” said Slutsky.

She said there were around 70 people from all over the world including Israel and across the United States.

Aside from Shabbat, Slutsky and her husband took part in the tourist attractions that Niagara has to offer including seeing a magic show at the Greg Frewin Theatre and walking along the main strip of Clifton Hill. 

“There were lots of other religious people. There were even Hasidim that came from Monsey, New York,” she said.

The Slutskys stayed at a hotel recommended by Chabad that was walking distance to the Chabad house and within the eruv, a wire boundary religious Jews rely on over Shabbat to allow activities that are normally forbidden in the public domain such as carrying objects. 

Amnon Vanono who runs a kosher pizza shop in Hamilton, Ont., has been driving about 70 kilometres to Niagara Falls every day to provide kosher pizza for visitors. 

“The dairy restaurant at Chabad isn’t working yet and they need a dairy solution so for the time being I am out there providing kosher food solutions for travelers,” said Vanono in a message. 

He said he can sell anywhere from two to 30 pizzas on a given day so it’s not feasible for him to open his own restaurant. 

While Vanono drives in, some companies in the region like the Chocolate Factory Experience (CFX) are adding kosher options to their existing menu to meet the increased demand.

In 2018, the company bought dedicated equipment for all the kosher certified products and ingredients, said Kabir Lamsal, manager of quality assurance and quality control at CFX. They are certified by Rabbi Kalman Scheiner and the Orthodox Union who oversee the process.

CFX offers chocolate tours with kosher items for visitors. “We provide all the details for our customers about how the kosher process works and how we get those certifications,” said Lamsal. 

CFX is not the only company with options for religious Jews. Adam Hayat, president of Queen Tour Niagara, offers tours of Niagara with licensed tour guides in mini coach buses. 

He’s become more religiously observant and this year, he started closing his business on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

“I would say it’s 50 percent busier than last summer and that’s even with closing over Shabbat,” said Hayat.

Queen Tour Niagara was started by Hayat’s father in 1994 when he immigrated to Canada from Israel. 

“He was one of the first ones and he taught the other companies how to do a great tour,” he said. Hayat worked with his father for ten years before taking over the business. 

Since he has been involved, Hayat has seen prices more than double. This includes everything from insurance to licensing to the attractions. Despite this, the popularity of Niagara Falls as a vacation spot has continued to increase. 

“People are coming in from everywhere, especially the States. Everything is back to normal from COVID,” he said.

Rabbi Zaltzman said Niagara Falls is a destination for Jews of all backgrounds and lifestyles. His Shabbat meals always have a diverse mix of Jewish visitors. 

“When you come here on vacation and benefit from Chabad, you’re actually supporting the local Jewish community—so come visit us!”