Oh, Canada, wait! Tourists, dollars are fleeing Palm Springs due to Trump provocations
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It's Sunday. I'm your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here's what you need to know:
They had planned vacations, winter hideaways stays, music festival adventures and trips to meet friends.
One by one, these Canadian travelers, snowbirds and short-time visitors, all canceled their travel to Palm Springs.
While the reasons for visiting the desert oasis varied, the cause of the stoppage was clear: Canadians felt disrespected enough by the Trump administration that they voiced their disapproval with their dollars.
But their salvo against the second-term president didn't hit him. Rather the Maple boycott has hammered the LGBTQ+ friendly Palm Springs community of workers, restaurants and business owners dependent on Canadian tourism.
Now Palm Springs is scrambling, trying to survive this economic downturn while anticipating harsher and bleaker vacation seasons ahead.
My colleague Hailey Branson-Potts wrote about the situation in depth, including where the parties stand and what the future may look like.
What's driving Canadians away?
Trump has belittled Canada by calling it America's '51st state.' He repeatedly mocked former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as 'governor.' He has also threatened to use 'economic force' to annex the 40-million-person country.
Trump in February invoked emergency powers to justify stiff new tariffs on Canadian imports. He argued that the trafficking of illegal drugs — namely, fentanyl — across the northern border compromised American security.
After Trump's separate 25% tariff on imported automobiles went into effect last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called the levies a 'direct attack,' slapped a 25% retaliatory levy on vehicles imported from the United States.
Canadians spending habits are changing
The Canadian air carriers Flair Airlines and WestJet ended their seasonal service between Vancouver and Winnipeg to Palm Springs International Airport earlier than planned this spring, airport spokesman Jake Ingrassia said in a statement to The Times.
'The airlines have advised the airport that these adjustments are in response to the current operating environment and shifts in demand,' Ingrassia said.
Kenny Cassady, director of business development for Acme House Co., which manages vacation rental properties in Palm Springs, said Canadians often book stays of one to three months a full year in advance.
'But when it comes to rebooking for next year? They're just declining,' said Cassady. 'It's going to be most noticeable come next season. It could have a ripple effect beyond guests not booking to come back and spending rental dollars. If they're not here, they're also not going to restaurants and buying other services.'
Laura Mezzacapo, accounting manager for the Vancouver-based travel agency the Travel Group, said that at this time of year, travel agents with her company would be busy booking spring break and summer vacations to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palm Springs.
But since mid-February, U.S. bookings have plummeted. Corporate bookings, she said, are down 70% to 80%. And instead of vacations in the American West, clients are opting for Mexico.
'We feel disrespected,' she said of Canadians. 'We've been your biggest ally. We've fought wars with you. We took your planes on 9/11. We love traveling to your country. We buy your products. And then you treat us like you don't need us for anything?'
What the numbers say
A 2021 study done for Visit Greater Palm Springs found that Canadians owned 7% of second homes in the Coachella Valley, far more than any other country outside the United States.
Another study, in 2017, found that roughly 303,600 Canadians visited the Coachella Valley that year, spending more than $236 million.
How has Palm Springs reacted?
Last week, the city of Palm Springs hung red streetlight banners in its downtown business district proclaiming 'Palm Springs ♥ Canada.' And Mayor Ron deHarte said city officials are anxiously monitoring sales tax and hotel occupancy figures.
Now that the peak snowbird season — roughly January through April — is wrapping up, he said, there is growing concern about the wave of cancellations for next winter.
'If this is something that lasts for a long time, we have to start working today to counter any negatives that may be coming from actions in Washington, D.C.,' DeHarte said.
'Is it concerning? Certainly. Canada is consistently our number one travel source.'
For more on the situation, please check out the full story.
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Benito Flores has parked his battered, pale yellow Dodge Ram van on the narrow street in El Sereno outside his one-bedroom duplex. A retired welder, Flores lived and worked out of the van for 14 years before joining an audacious protest against homelessness in Los Angeles in spring 2020. Flores was among a dozen individuals and families who seized state-owned homes that had been left empty and rotting for decades in El Sereno after they'd been acquired for a freeway expansion that failed. Following a public outcry and months of negotiations, Flores and the others, a group who called themselves 'Reclaiming Our Homes,' were allowed to stay in the houses temporarily. But no more.
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