Trump trumps Cup: Oilers fans say 'not this year' to Florida playoff travel
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Ahead of this year's championship rematch between the Oilers and the Florida Panthers, the agency has only pre-booked 10 rooms. And, of those, four of them are still available. Six of them went to a crew of what manager Hidar Elmais calls 'regulars' who went to road playoff games in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Dallas. This group of a dozen friends were so confident in the Oil (and the Panthers), that they booked their tickets and hotel to Florida before the Western Conference Final was decided.
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But, outside of that crew, the calls are down.
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Elmais said the effect of Donald Trump's tariff and 51st state rhetoric, which has impacted Canadian travel to the U.S., is hurting interest in seeing the Oilers play in the Panthers' den.
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'The tensions between the United States and Canada is even having an effect on sports,' he said.
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At Newwest Travel & Cruises, an Edmonton travel agency that began as sports-tourism specialists, there were a steady stream of calls through Friday. Agent Karilynn Stanners said that it's hard to book packages for the Cup final, because there is such short notice. It's not like booking travel to a Formula One race, a World Cup match or a Super Bowl, where people often know years out when and where an event will happen.
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'I don't think hockey fans care about the politics,' she said. 'They'll do anything to support their team. And, in the NHL, most of the teams are located in the U.S.'
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She has a client who has gone to the Oilers' first two road games in each of the previous three rounds. That client is already set for Games 3 and 4 in Florida. She said business was good for the first round against Los Angeles and the second round which saw the Oilers vanquish the Vegas Golden Knights.
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The Dallas drop off, she said, was because of the air travel hassles to get there. Due to the general drop in Canadians travelling to the U.S. since Trump became president, Canadian airlines have reduced flights across the border and even chopped some routes. That has made connecting between Dallas and Edmonton more difficult. So, in this sense, Trump has had an indirect effect. And this may also play into fans' decision about whether or not to go to the Greater Miami area.
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