Maritime tourism industry banking on Canadian pride this season

Will the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war impact tourism in the Maritimes?

Ian Babchuck and Erica Rothwell are visiting Halifax for the first time.

“I work in a school, so my holiday time is quite restricted. This is my spring break so I thought we’d come now,” Rothwell says.

They planned this trip for a while, but with Canada-U.S. relations strained, the Edmonton couple sees more travel within the country in the future.

“I certainly think that I’d rather stay in Canada and make other trips to other parts that we haven’t seen,” Babchuck says.

Tourism operators are seeing numbers that suggest other Canadians are doing the same.

“Right now we’re ahead of the game for the year, we are looking like we’re going to beat last year so that’s great,” says Leigh Forrest, general manager of the Rodd Grand Hotel in Yarmouth, N.S., a town that relies heavily on the Cat Ferry. “What we’re finding is that the Canadians are travelling with Canada and not going to the U.S. So we’re having a higher increase from British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec.”

At the same time, bookings from Americans remains steady. While tariffs and threats of annexation have Canadians on edge, Ross Jefferson, president and CEO of Discover Halifax, doesn’t think the dispute is on the radar of Americans to the extent it is in Canada.

“Obviously, it’s a really important issue for Canadians. I think it’s important for those Americans who are following it but not everyone is following to the degree that Canadians are. We haven’t seen any impact from intent or visitation from Americans to Canada,” Jefferson says. “Americans will spend around $13 billion annually visit in Canada. Canadians will spend double that visiting the United States so any decrease in that amount is going to be a positive for Canada.”

Add in a bump in interest from Europeans and tourism industry officials are hoping for a solid season amidst rising global tensions.