Excitement is building now less than a week out to the Solar Eclipse, and Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island has a one stop shop for locals and visitors.
The 2024 Eclipse Guide has information on local events in addition to tips on how to experience the eclipse as recommended by the province.
Large portions of Essex County will be in the path of totality during the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.
The partial phase should start at approximately 1:58 p.m. and end at 4:28 p.m., while the totality should take place from 3:12 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. across the region.
The path of totality is a narrow corridor, approximately 100 to 115 km wide, where the sun appears to be completely covered by the moon for a short period of time.
Officials are expecting visitors to travel to the local area to witness this event, with several locations across the region, hosting limited capacity events on Eclipse Day.
To date, the guide has already seen over 15,000 visitors interested in experiencing the eclipse locally.
TWEPI CEO Gordon Orr says based on those engagement numbers, they're anticipating a strong influx of visitors.
"It's a great opportunity for us for sure to not only see this once in a lifetime event, but at the same time enjoy some of the tourist attractions and tourism amenities right here in our backyard," he said.
Orr says they launched the guide in March, not knowing what kind of reaction they'd get, but the interest has been tremendous.
"We know in the next few days it's going to get even more clicks. We're very excited that we've got a number of things happening in our own backyard. People can experience the eclipse and watch the eclipse safely of course, and at the same time have a little bit of a celebration with family and friends."
In terms of expected numbers coming into the region, Orr says they haven't got those right now but they have been briefed that Essex-Windsor EMS have plans in place.
"People in the emergency services are aware of what's happening, they're preparing for it, and they've been in contact with us. We have kept in contact with our hotels as well, and for our area it doesn't seem to be much of an overnight visit. We are primarily a rubber tire traffic market, so people can actually witness the eclipse and go home the same day in quite a big geographic region," he said.
Orr says they're stressing safety as well, making sure people have certified glasses in they're planning on watching the eclipse.
More information can be found here.
- with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides