14-03-2025
North Country Tourism Could Pay The Price For Tariffs
PLATTSBURGH, NY – (WVNY/WFFF) – Much of the region relies heavily on tourism, specifically from Canadian visitors. Those visitors are now being forced to pay even more for the goods they buy here. That could put a real strain on the local economy.
As a border community, the North Country is feeling the pain of the tariffs President Trump has imposed on Canadian goods. Plattsburgh Town Supervisor, Michael Cashman is concerned.
'Tourism is going to take a hit. We're already starting to hear that Canadians are pulling back from their plans to come down to the United States for a trip, said Cashman.
Kristy Kennedy with the North Country Chamber of Commerce, spent some time this week in Montreal, meeting with tour operators and travel agents.
She said talks went well and according to her sources, Canadian travelers are not particularly avoiding the US because of the tariffs, There just seems to be fear as far as what to expect when traveling.
'They are seeing their tours declining, and participation declining. There is a bit of fear with travel,' Kennedy said. 'Yes Tariffs are on imports, but recently the 25 percent surcharge on any items that our Canadian visitors are bringing back across causes some reservation and causes them to kind of think twice.
With summer just around the corner, a big concern is a possible decline in reservations at places such as campgrounds and marinas.
Kennedy said it's still too early in the season to measure any sort of decrease in reservations in the North Country.
'It's a little bit of a waiting game. Are things going to change? Are they going to stay the same? What's happening? It does feel very much like there's a pause in a way… what's coming in the next month,' said Kennedy.
Air traffic in Plattsburgh appears to be steady.
'Right now we're not seeing any changes in our airport traffic, steady flow in, steady flow out. This is usually the time of year when our Canadian friends are coming home, so we are not experiencing any difficulty,' said Molly Ryan, Director, Clinton County Economic Development
More tourist information will become available once the border releases the car count from February and March.
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