New Brunswick tourism feels the love from Canadians boycotting the U.S.
Accommodations booked months earlier than usual, some tourism operators say
Chris and Graziella Aerni have been welcoming guests to New Brunswick's Rossmount Inn for 24 years.
Their 18-room hotel in Saint Andrews offers fine dining where guests often reserve their spots months in advance. And this year, at a time of growing friction with the United States, those bookings have been pouring in.
Aerni, a Swiss-born chef, said demand is already looking "very strong for the summer."
"From what I can see, unless something very, very drastic happens, it looks like New Brunswick could have a great summer season."
The increased bookings come at a time when many Canadians are vowing to spend their travel dollars at home as a tariff war with the United States heats up.
Nearly 500,000 fewer travellers crossed the land border from Canada into the U.S. in February compared to the same month last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
If that continues into the busy tourism season, it could turn into a hospitality operator's dream.
Joanne Bérubé-Gagné, senior executive adviser at the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick, was in Montreal for an RV show recently, with about 30,000 people in attendance, and she said the feedback was clear.
"Everybody that came to our booth said, 'We're going east, we're going to New Brunswick, we want to visit you this year,'" she said.
"The word around was, 'We cancelled our vacation to the U.S. and we're going to stay in Canada for a couple of years.'"
Accommodations are usually the first thing people book when they start planning their vacations, and this year it's happening earlier than ever, Bérubé-Gagné said.
"We already have some campgrounds telling us that they will be full before they even open. Usually that starts in April and May, but we've been getting calls since February.
"People are planning ahead and a lot of people are telling us the same thing — they're not going to the U.S. They cancelled their vacation to Old Orchard [Beach] and New Hampshire."
Suzanne Robichaud said she is seeing that impact first-hand as one of the owners of South Cove Camping and Golf in Shediac, a family business for more than 50 years.
She said they mostly see a lot of returning guests from Quebec and Ontario, but just lately there have been new inquiries.
"This week I've had a few calls. People ... were changing their plans, not going to Maine, and they're looking to see what activities [there are] in Shediac, when was a good time to come. And they ended up booking for two weeks.
"So that's a strong, strong message that we've been hearing here in this area," she said.
Just down the road, Camille Piccinin has been taking summer bookings for Camping Parasol since December, and said "so far it's extremely good."
She said many of her 100 campsites are already booked for July and August, leaving little flexibility for late-comers.
'We're a bargain'
Chef Aerni said along with "Canadians not wanting to go to the States on principle," the recent plunge in the loonie is also making New Brunswick attractive for tourists from both countries.
"We're a bargain at this point," he said. "Whenever the dollar dips into the 60s, from my experience, is when Quebecers stop crossing the borders and looking more to make reservations … in areas where the dollar goes further."
Bérubé-Gagné agrees the low Canadian dollar does play a role, but for most people, she thinks it comes down to principle.
"Mainly the reason they're telling us is not even about the money. The first thing that comes out is the way we've been treated by the U.S.A.," she said.
"People are still worried about that and are still a little bit reluctant to go into the U.S. It's a sentiment that they're not welcome anymore. So I think that's a big part of it."
Americans always welcome
Bérubé-Gagné said tourism operators here will continue to welcome U.S. visitors as they always have and "make sure that they get the best experience and that they enjoy their stay."
She said "politics shouldn't be a discussion on vacation anyway."
"We're known for good service, we're known for friendly service. And I think we need to extend that. It's not everybody that thinks like the president."
"They are as scared as anybody," she said. "And I think we need to … prepare to welcome them. And I think [that's] the best way to ease those tensions."
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