Tourism biz just fine despite U.S., Canada trade tiff
OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — The United States and Canada are engaged in a trade dispute, angering Canadians, but it doesn’t seem to be having an impact on tourism. Not yet, anyway.
In Old Orchard Beach, popular with Quebecers, innkeepers report that Canadian tourism remains strong despite the harsh words last month when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that Canada “won’t be pushed around” and President Trump called the prime minister “weak” and “dishonest.”
Several weeks later, Canada imposed billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs in response to the Trump administration’s duties on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Mostepha Azizi, a vacationer from Montreal, said that he’s confident the war of words will end and that “reason will prevail” between the neighbors.
“For me, it’s just a question of time,” he said. “This thing will settle down. Trudeau and Trump have to find a solution to the problem.”
Canada accounts for the largest number of international visitors to the U.S., with more than 20 million visitors pumping nearly $20 billion into the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The number of Canadians heading south has grown this year, and the flap between Trump and Trudeau after last month’s G7 summit in Quebec didn’t change that.
Border crossing data indicates the number of Canadian motorists returning from the U.S. in June grew 12.7 percent from last year, a healthy increase, according to a license plate-scanning system used by the Canadian government.
A so-called “Trump Slump” never materialized after Trump’s election, and travel to the U.S. is growing despite anecdotal evidence that some Canadians are choosing to travel elsewhere, said Allison Wallace of Flight Centre Canada, a travel agency with 150 locations across Canada.