Morning Read: The Canadians are coming!
by Brian Mann on April 14th, 2011
The Burlington Free Press is reporting that tourism professionals in Vermont are bullish because of the strong Canadian dollar, which could drive more visitors south.
“We watch that currency every day,” Bill Stenger [president and CEO of Jay Peak] told an audience at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference on Tuesday morning at the Hilton Burlington. “Canada is a unique, wonderful opportunity right now, and we should be aggressively mining that opportunity every chance we get.”
The North Country Chamber of Commerce and its Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau surveyed 250 members this spring to find out how Canadian business affects commerce in northern New York.
- A strong majority depends on Canadians for 20% or more of their business. Almost a fifth depends on Canadians for more than 50% of their business.
- 88% rate the importance of Canadians on their businesses as Important or Very Important. 48% say Very Important.
- 88% reported an increase in Canadian business in 2010 compared to 2009. A majority (64%) reported a 5-15% increase, while 12% reported an increase greater than 25%.
Let’s hope that our hyper-paranoid border security doesn’t frighten them away. Fortress America needs the business.
How is this “news”?
I’ve always believed that Exchange Rate is the primary driver of cross-border traffic. With the recent “strengthening” of the CAD, US visitation to the North has declined significantly (at the same time, the Canadians are doing more and better marketing). Weak Dollar is a blessing-in-disguise for us – helps our foreign trade balance and brings money in from abroad.
We should be encouraging even more Canadian visitation by removing as many barriers as possible. The border-security issue exists, but it’s clear that they are more than willing to travel for a deal (shopping, airport, travel).
Let’s make it both easier and cheaper for them – turn our economy around, and maybe we can even afford to “splurge” in Canada again ourselves.
Tuesday evening I counted 19 “Canadian snowbirds” parked in the Walmart area for campers. These folks were northbound based on those I saw on I-81 northbound earlier in the day. Strong Canadian dollar makes it harder for them to sell stuff.
Maybe we don’t need the Canadians. Maybe what we need to do is to market this place to blacks and Hispanics. Maybe some will visit and decide they want to live here.
Nothing against Canadians but why not market to the minorities in this country who won’t be minorities much longer?