B.C. tourism operators are anticipating that the low Canadian dollar will attract more Americans while simultaneously encouraging Canadians to travel within their own country.
The loonie sank to a near-five-year low of US$0.6925 this week, meaning Americans could cash in their greenbacks for $1.444 in Canadian currency.
“We certainly have more Americans in the resort than we used to,” Big White ski resort’s senior vice-president of marketing and sales Michael Ballingall told BIV. “It is up 45 per cent to 50 per cent [year-over-year] now, including future bookings. It was up 44 per cent when we last looked at it, which was American Thanksgiving.”
He said his resort can track where visitors to its website are based, and visits from web surfers based in the U.S. Pacific Northwest are up by double digits. Helping is the fact that the resort has snow and that projections of a La Niña winter could mean much more will come.
Most visitors use credit cards, but he said the resort’s ticket office provides foreign exchange and has recently seen a significant increase in the amount of U.S. dollars being exchanged for Canadian ones.
Alaska Airlines yesterday flew the first of its flights between Los Angeles and Kelowna, making it easier for many Californians to get to the resort, which is about 56 kilometres from Kelowna.
Encouraging news for Big White is that a greater percentage of Americans have passports than ever before.
USA Today in October reported that 51 per cent of Americans have passports, according to the U.S. State Department. That is up from 46 per cent in July 2023, according to a tweet by that branch of the U.S. government. Only about 30 per cent of Americans had passports in 2008, according to research organization Apollo Academy.
Destination Vancouver CEO Royce Chwin has long said that he does not believe that a low Canadian dollar is much of a motivating factor for many Americans to visit.
He reiterated that in a text to BIV yesterday.
"We've seen nothing to suggest the exchange rate will drive more traffic from the U.S. market," he said.
"Forex doesn't pop into the top 10 U.S. traveller motivators. The bigger question is whether the exchange rate will keep more Canadians at home, creating more domestic travel. This is something we'll continue to monitor."
Nonetheless, other advocates in the tourism and hospitality sectors say it would be wise for B.C. to have a marketing campaign to make Americans aware that their dollar can buy them a better vacation than it could a year ago, when one Canadian dollar bought US$0.7510, and an American dollar could buy only $1.33 in Canadian dollars.
"We need to take out billboards, all down the I-5 [highway] with them saying, "Canada. Head this way. 30-per-cent off," said BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association CEO Ian Tostenson.
