It appears that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and comments about Canada have hit a nerve and British Columbians are taking a stand using their wallets.
Peter Raju, president and owner of the Peace Arch Duty Free Shop, told Global News that when B.C. Premier David Eby urged residents to buy local and rethink possible travel plans to the U.S., business dried up dramatically.
“It’s over 80 per cent,” Raju said of how much business has declined. “I mean, it’s unbelievable. But it is a fact.”
From his observations, he said Canadians are not crossing the border and very few Americans are entering Canada and the store.
“If things don’t improve, we will be left with no option but to close down,” Raju added.
“We’ve been in business for over 40 years. For the last 20 months during COVID, we had been closed. And now with this situation, there’s no way financially we can remain open until the provincial government intervenes.”
But it’s not just border crossings take a hit.
“We’ve had a number of clients that have already cancelled or clients who are planning summer vacations that are now saying, ‘Please find me somewhere else, where’s another place I can go that (is) similarly priced or (a) similar distance away?’” McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant with The Travel Group, told Global News
“I think that beyond the tariffs, the 51st state comments has really hit a nerve with a lot of Canadians where they’re much more emotional about the situation and making tangible actual changes to their plans.”
McMillan said some of their clients are members of minority communities who have expressed concerns about safety if they travel to the United States.
He also said some clients who are immigrants but don’t have Canadian passports yet are concerned about additional scrutiny crossing the border.
“Now we’re seeing like concrete movement of passengers,” McMillan added, “and we’re also seeing clients that are not our clients, new clients calling us saying, ‘Can you give me advice on where I can go that’s not the United States or how can I travel somewhere without using a U.S.-based supplier?’”
He said that includes U.S. airlines, cruise lines and hotel chains, as people express that they want to buy Canadian and enjoy Canada.
While it’s hard to put a monetary amount on the impact, McMillan said destinations that are popular with Canadian travellers are going to see changes.
“So we’re looking at sunbelt destinations — South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Nevada, California, Arizona, that are going to be hit really hard,” he said.
“Las Vegas, for example, 30 per cent of all international visitors last year were coming from Canada. So that’s of the whole world, just 30 per cent. And their average spend is around $1,100 per person per day. And that doesn’t include gambling. So it’s going to be a major hit for certain destinations like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charleston. They’re going to get hit really hard by even a 10 per cent reduction in travel.”
Raju hopes that the situation will change but said it’s a worrying time.
He said it has become so dire that they are down to just a skeleton staff of about three people, when they usually have between 20 and 24, and if the current trends continue, they will have to close during the weekdays and just open on weekends.
“I hope things will be resolved for the benefit of both countries and for all of us, you know, because we had great relations with the United States (and) vice versa,” he said.
“And I hope that everything will be fine.”