Low loonie means more Americans coming to Windsor

A falling loonie is bad for some and good for others.

For American tourists, it can be an additional incentive to come to Canada.

With the Canadian dollar sitting at its lowest point in more than a decade, Gordon Orr, the chief executive officer of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, said that this is time for the region to shine.

"This is a great opportunity for us, for sure to capture. The fact that the American dollar is strong and their buying-power is more in Canada and that especially bodes well for us in Windsor-Essex," he told CBC News in an interview on Thursday.

Orr said anyone driving around downtown Windsor will notice more U.S. licence plates these days, with Americans visiting on the side of the border where their money goes further.

Few stats are available to point to so far, but Orr said more U.S. visitors are staying overnight or visiting the casino.

In terms of local events where the dollar appears to be having an impact, Orr said that the recent Festival of Birds at Point Pelee National Park drew 10 per cent more people than usual.

"A lot of those people were Americans coming over," he said.

It's also been busy at the Tunnel Duty-Free Shop, where an increasing number of Americans have been stopping in lately.

"We are starting to see more and more Americans returning back into the United States and coming into our store, which is a really good, encouraging sign that this lower Canadian dollar is having a positive impact on travellers coming into Windsor," said Abe Taqtaq, the shop's vice-president of operations.