The New York state assembly has made an exception to a century-old ban on stunts at Niagara Falls, to allow a renowned tightrope walker to cross from one side to the other. But is this the right way to revive tourism?

Little more than half a century ago, few tourist attractions in North America could rival the Niagara Falls. Travellers journeyed from all over the world to marvel at the three waterfalls that cascade into the lakes separating New York State and Canada’s Ontario Province.

Honeymooners once flocked to the majestic falls

The 1952 film Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe, played on the falls’ reputation as a romantic honeymoon location.

By then it had already been a major tourist destination for 150 years – first for wealthy travellers who could afford long journeys by carriage, then after the advent of the railway, for the middle classes.

At the same time, it flourished as a hydro-powered centre of industry, luring workers from all over the nation.

But eventually the manufacturers and chemical companies left, and other honeymoon destinations – such as Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida – put Niagara in the shade.

There are hopes today that New York’s recent vote to legalise gay marriage may revive the wedding business.

But it is a different vote by the state assembly, to grant a licence to a world-famous tightrope walker to cross the Horseshoe Falls, that optimists think may do most to put the falls back on the map and boost flagging tourism revenue.

A century and a half has passed since Jean Francois Gravelet – known as Blondin – became the first person to to make the tightrope walk. He repeated it more than once – on one occasion he carried his manager on his back, on another he cooked an omelette on a small stove.

The artist now seeking to cross the high wire is Nik Wallenda – from a family famous for circus stunts and wire walking without safety nets