s a teenager, Pattison worked at a hotel. In April, the 78-year-old entrepreneur opened one of his own: The Great Wolf Lodge resort and water park in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Plans for the $100-million aquarium next door, meanwhile, have been put on hold while his tourist attraction company, Ripley Entertainment Inc., waits to assess the impact of new passport requirements for U.S. visitors starting in 2008.

"The more you bring to an area, the more it becomes a destination."
- James Pattison