BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York's tourism industry is ready for all of the people who will be coming here next month for the eclipse.
If you want to stay at the Harborcenter Marriott that weekend, it will cost you more than $800 a night and there are only a few rooms left if you check Travelocity. There are a couple of motels with rooms left for just under $300 a night as of Monday afternoon, but your choices are limited as we get closer to the eclipse.
"Looking at Travelocity before I came, there are just a few hotels that have maybe one to five rooms left, and the rates are really high so that's exciting for us to be able to have this type of an opportunity because it's probably once in a lifetime," said Patrick Kaler, Visit Buffalo Niagara President and CEO.
Visit Buffalo Niagara is ready for the influx of people coming to Western New York to see the eclipse in two weeks.
"We're putting amenities at many of the hotels. We've got five thousand with a gift that says you are here on this momentous day, please come back on another visit. So we're hoping that we'll have a great weather day like this that people will come and enjoy Buffalo, hopefully make a return visit," said Patrick Kaler.
In Chautauqua County, hotels are also filling up fast.
"Some have limited numbers of rooms, you know, like single digits up to maybe 15 at the most. We also have some availability at our campgrounds, too, which have opened early specifically for the eclipse," said Scott Shelters, Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, Content and Communications Coordinator.
This is generally a slower time of the year for tourism in Chautauqua County, so the extra visitors are definitely welcome.
"For us, we have, you know, a lot of places that are seasonal and have opened early specifically for the eclipse, so the whole county has really gotten on board with how big of a deal this is," said Scott Shelters.
Chief Meteorologist Patrick Hammer says historically, April 8 has a 60 to 70-percent chance of being partly to mostly cloudy, but three years ago it was mostly sunny and 84 degrees.