Latest news with #RegionalOfficeofSustainableTourism
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Upstate N.Y. tourism operators offering discounts to win back Canadians
George Daniels doesn't expect the 25 per cent discount he's offering Canadians to entice many visitors back to the bed and breakfast he runs in Upstate New York this summer. Canadians ordinarily make up 15 to 20 per cent of guests at the Keene Valley Lodge in the Adirondack High Peaks. Only two have booked this year though, said Daniels, who has refunded cancellation requests from others who are avoiding U.S. travel due to Donald Trump's tariff and annexation threats. Daniels understands their reticence. "I support the boycott, even though it's hurting us financially," he said, describing his inn's discount as a symbolic gesture. "I really just wanted to get word out that we're not supporting these policies." From upscale lodges to a bike tour company offering "summer camp for people who love bikes," tourism operators in Upstate New York are offering "northern neighbour" discounts, hoping to win back Canadians boycotting U.S. travel due to Trump's trade war. These deals were highlighted in an email last week from the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in Lake Placid asking their "dear friends in Canada" to return. "We know now is not the right time to ask you to come, but when you are ready to come back down, we're excited to welcome you back," said ROOST president Dan Kelleher. More than retaliatory countertariffs, an informal Canadian visitor boycott is hurting American border communities whose economies rely in part on Canadian visitors and cross-border supply chains. Vehicle traffic across the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge between Ontario and New York dropped 31 per cent in April compared to the same period last year, the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority (OBPA) announced recently. "We know Canadians are choosing not to cross, and we understand why," the OBPA said in a statement, noting that "when Canadians stay home, we feel it immediately." Car crossings at the Champlain-St. Bernard de Lacolle Border Crossing from Quebec into New York were also down 31 per cent in March compared to a year earlier, according to the North Country Chamber of Commerce. The chamber's president Garry Douglas attributes part of the decline to a weak loonie and part to anger at Trump. In response, the chamber has launched an "intensified hospitality campaign" aimed at convincing Canadians not to punish border communities for the rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C. "We're going to do everything we can as a region to help with the healing once we hopefully get past the trade war," Douglas said, citing a survey commissioned by the chamber indicating that 97 per cent of local businesses were concerned by tariffs. As part of its campaign, the chamber recently aired a TV ad in Canada seeking to distinguish border communities from Trump country. "I was going to the U.S. … but now I'm going to Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast," a woman with a Québécois accent says in the tourism ad. Plattsburgh, N.Y., is close enough to the Canadian border that locals jokingly refer to the city as Montreal's southern suburbs. Michael Cashman, Plattsburgh's town supervisor, said while uncertainty around tariffs has caused some businesses to pause expansion plans, his biggest immediate worry is a decline in Canadian visitors. "I'm most concerned about our marinas, our campgrounds, our hotels, our small restaurants," he said. Cashman said he and other local figures have been communicating their discontent to state leaders and the administration in Washington. "We continue to provide a full-throated level of support that these tariffs are nonsensical and that they are an attack on our friends and neighbours," he said. Cashman sought to distance his community from the actions of the current U.S. administration and appealed directly to Canadians: "We will do everything that we can to continue to strengthen our friendships and partnerships." Doug Haney, who runs Bike Adirondack based in Saranac Lake, N.Y., said he understands why Canadians are boycotting U.S. travel. "Honestly, if I was a Canadian citizen I would probably feel the same way," he said. This is why his company is offering Canadians 15 per cent off several of its bike tours this summer, he said. "We as business owners and as citizens want to just say, 'Hey, you're welcome here and we genuinely care about our Canadian neighbours to the north.'"
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. road trip destinations seeing signs of Canadians staying away
While Upstate New York has long been an attractive destination for road trippers from eastern Ontario and western Quebec, heated rhetoric about a U.S.-Canada trade war and annexation threats appears to be cooling interest. Straddling the St. Lawrence River between Ontario and New York, the Thousand Islands is so integrated, it has a bi-national tourism board that promotes destinations on both sides of the boundary. "Regardless of anybody's feelings of the policy in the U.S. or Canada, we can unequivocally say that the rhetorical piece, the tariffs piece, the widening [exchange rate gap] is hurting Canadian visitation into the United States," said Corey Fram, director of the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council. February saw nearly half a million fewer Canadian passenger vehicle trips across the U.S. border – a figure drawing comparisons to the drop during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fram said bookings appear to be slowing and they've seen an increase in negative comments on their promoted social media posts. "We picked up on our ads with U.S. landmarks drawing a lot of negative responses from Canadians and then Americans pushing back and retaliating on that, so what we did was eliminate those ads facing Canadian audiences," Fram said. He said some Americans in those comments didn't understand Canadians withholding their dollars was a way to have their voices heard. Canadian visitors spend $40 million to $50 million US per year on the U.S. side of the Thousand Islands, Fram said. While he hasn't noted an increase in cancellations so far, he expects a measurable decrease in Canadian visitors to the American side by the end of the year. On the Canadian side, Ross McCarney said there have been steady bookings ahead of Rockport Boat Lines cruise season. "We're still seeing bookings from Americans, we're seeing bookings from Europeans, Asian countries and domestically in Canada," he said. While he expects there may be a boost from Canadians choosing to vacation domestically, he's also monitoring changing U.S. travel requirements for guests wary of what that might mean. The Canadian-owned and operated line doesn't plan on changing its marketing material or routes. "We're in quite a unique situation where you're buying a Canadian cruise but we're travelling into U.S. waters because we're just so close." Their dock is about three kilometres from the U.S. border and major attractions like Boldt Castle are on U.S. islands – though depending on the tour guests won't necessarily set foot on American soil. Cancellations reported Further east, in the American Adirondacks, the local tourism association has heard reports of cancellations tied to the heated rhetoric coming from Washington, D.C. "We've seen individual families choosing not to come. We've heard of whole hockey teams choosing not to come to some of our international sporting events and then some group travel bookings," said Dan Kelleher, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST). He estimates there's been a 40 per cent drop in Canadian-based web traffic on ROOST's sites for Lake Placid and other destinations. A photo of Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks mountain range, New York State, USA. (Daniel Tripp/Wikimedia Commons) Kelleher said he's explained that talk of annexation and tariffs has been hurtful to Canadians and he notes people outside border communities may not understand the level of interdependence. "If you come and walk around a lot of our communities here in the Adirondacks, you'll see Canadian flags flying right alongside American flags. You'll see signs in both English and French," he said. "Educating people across the United States about how closely our two economies [are] linked will hopefully help drive some policy changes both at the state level and in Washington." He said a 20 per cent drop in Canadian visitors would cost the local economy $12 million US and municipal governments $600,000 US in lost revenue. The U.S. Travel Association says Canada is the top source of international visitors to the United States and just a 10 per cent reduction in Canadian travel could result in $2.1 billion US in lost spending – New York is one of the most visited states. "We just want to make sure our Canadian friends know how much they're valued and loved," Kelleher said. The Thousand Islands International Tourism Council has launched an ad campaign focusing on how the bi-national region is a draw for both Canadians and Americans. (Thousand Islands International Tourism Council) In the Thousand Islands, Fram said they've launched a campaign touting the Thousand Islands as a destination where "we've always met in the middle." "We've always worked cooperatively here. We're going to keep the light on. Reconciliation is gonna start along border communities in places like the Thousand Islands," he said.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
U.S. road trip destinations seeing signs of Canadians staying away
While Upstate New York has long been an attractive destination for road trippers from eastern Ontario and western Quebec, heated rhetoric about a U.S.-Canada trade war and annexation threats appears to be cooling interest. Straddling the St. Lawrence River between Ontario and New York, the Thousand Islands is so integrated, it has a bi-national tourism board that promotes destinations on both sides of the boundary. "Regardless of anybody's feelings of the policy in the U.S. or Canada, we can unequivocally say that the rhetorical piece, the tariffs piece, the widening [exchange rate gap] is hurting Canadian visitation into the United States," said Corey Fram, director of the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council. February saw nearly half a million fewer Canadian passenger vehicle trips across the U.S. border – a figure drawing comparisons to the drop during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fram said bookings appear to be slowing and they've seen an increase in negative comments on their promoted social media posts. "We picked up on our ads with U.S. landmarks drawing a lot of negative responses from Canadians and then Americans pushing back and retaliating on that, so what we did was eliminate those ads facing Canadian audiences," Fram said. He said some Americans in those comments didn't understand Canadians withholding their dollars was a way to have their voices heard. Canadian visitors spend $40 million to $50 million US per year on the U.S. side of the Thousand Islands, Fram said. While he hasn't noted an increase in cancellations so far, he expects a measurable decrease in Canadian visitors to the American side by the end of the year. On the Canadian side, Ross McCarney said there have been steady bookings ahead of Rockport Boat Lines cruise season. "We're still seeing bookings from Americans, we're seeing bookings from Europeans, Asian countries and domestically in Canada," he said. While he expects there may be a boost from Canadians choosing to vacation domestically, he's also monitoring changing U.S. travel requirements for guests wary of what that might mean. The Canadian-owned and operated line doesn't plan on changing its marketing material or routes. "We're in quite a unique situation where you're buying a Canadian cruise but we're travelling into U.S. waters because we're just so close." Their dock is about three kilometres from the U.S. border and major attractions like Boldt Castle are on U.S. islands – though depending on the tour guests won't necessarily set foot on American soil. Cancellations reported Further east, in the American Adirondacks, the local tourism association has heard reports of cancellations tied to the heated rhetoric coming from Washington, D.C. "We've seen individual families choosing not to come. We've heard of whole hockey teams choosing not to come to some of our international sporting events and then some group travel bookings," said Dan Kelleher, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST). He estimates there's been a 40 per cent drop in Canadian-based web traffic on ROOST's sites for Lake Placid and other destinations. Kelleher said he's explained that talk of annexation and tariffs has been hurtful to Canadians and he notes people outside border communities may not understand the level of interdependence. "If you come and walk around a lot of our communities here in the Adirondacks, you'll see Canadian flags flying right alongside American flags. You'll see signs in both English and French," he said. "Educating people across the United States about how closely our two economies [are] linked will hopefully help drive some policy changes both at the state level and in Washington." He said a 20 per cent drop in Canadian visitors would cost the local economy $12 million US and municipal governments $600,000 US in lost revenue. The U.S. Travel Association says Canada is the top source of international visitors to the United States and just a 10 per cent reduction in Canadian travel could result in $2.1 billion US in lost spending – New York is one of the most visited states. "We just want to make sure our Canadian friends know how much they're valued and loved," Kelleher said. In the Thousand Islands, Fram said they've launched a campaign touting the Thousand Islands as a destination where "we've always met in the middle." "We've always worked cooperatively here. We're going to keep the light on. Reconciliation is gonna start along border communities in places like the Thousand Islands," he said.
