Too early to say if N.L. will see a boost from Canadians boycotting U.S. travel, say operators

CBC

18-02-2025

Tourism operators in Newfoundland and Labrador say it's too early to tell if tensions between Canada and the United States will lead to higher numbers of Canadian vacationers this season.
Canadians are increasingly boycotting plans to vacation south as U.S. President Donald Trump is promising punishing tariffs on Canadian goods and threatening annexation using economic force.
Wildland Tours operations manager Ann Simmons said approximately 40 per cent of her business comes from American tourists, but it's too early to tell what booking numbers will be for the upcoming season.
"Looking at it now, it seems that they are down a little bit, but I'm not too concerned about that yet," Simmons told CBC Radio's Weekend AM.
Simmons said her Canadian bookings are "strong," but U.S. bookings are down, and it's not yet clear whether domestic travellers can make up the difference.
Michael Gatherall, one of the owners of Gatherall's Puffin and Whale Watch tours, also said he can't know what U.S. or Canadian bookings will be like for the upcoming season.
"It's pretty much on par with last year," Gatherall said. "We haven't seen a fall-off yet."
In a previous interview with CBC, Tourism Minister Steve Crocker said Americans make up about 14 per cent of tourists, which equates to over $150 million a year for operators.
Crocker said while he welcomed the possibility of more domestic travellers to Newfoundland and Labrador, he also didn't want to alienate Americans.
Beyond geopolitical tension
When it comes to rising tension between the U.S. and Canada and whether it influences travel decisions, Gatherall thinks the issue is more keenly felt on the Canadian side, with more Canadians changing their travel plans as opposed to Americans changing their plans.
"Now what may come? That's to be determined," he said.
Simmons said she has heard from Americans who want to travel north and that's in part due to the weak Canadian dollar.
"It's a good time to travel to Canada and they're thinking about it," she said.
Gatherall agreed, adding that the strength or weakness of the Canadian dollar impacts travel decisions. When the Canadian dollar is strong, it can make travelling to locations like Newfoundland more expensive.
"When the dollar is down at the level that it's at now — below $0.70 — it does tend to favour us in that regard. It makes it more expensive, obviously, for Canadians to travel abroad, particularly to the U.S.," said Gatherall.
He said those conditions can make visits to a North Atlantic island more attractive as a "travel bargain."
Simmons said over the past five to seven years, she's seen a lot of Canadians booking tours.
"It's just something they've always wanted to do ... many Canadians haven't been here yet," she said.
However, Simmons said she isn't sure that tensions with the U.S. are driving the uptick.
"We don't have much of that conversation with them. It doesn't seem to come up ... it's just that they just want to come to Newfoundland," said Simmons.
Gatherall said big factors that help determine how busy a tourism season might be is an awareness of Newfoundland and Labrador as a travel destination and access, adding that the addition of seasonal European flights to London, Dublin and Paris"bodes well."
"Having that access, I think that that's going to be a great benefit," he said.
However, Gatherall said that air access will have to become a staple for the next three to five years in order to build the market.
"We've got to build awareness, build the trust that that's going to continue so that people have confidence that in 2026 — '27, '28 — they can book that service."
In the meantime, Simmons said she isn't considering changing her marketing strategy beyond U.S and Canadian markets.
"We will continue with the places that we have and maybe change our wording and our ads just a little bit," she said.