Growing tensions with the United States coupled with a weak Canadian dollar have combined to create something of a spring break boom in Victoria, B.C.
“We used to travel in the ‘States a fair amount, but we’re just not comfortable right now,” Lorie Hyatt, visiting from Ontario, told Global News.
“I don’t think we’re going to travel to the U.S. for the next four years,” added Roger Hyatt.
The couple were among many tourists enjoying the streets of B.C.’s capital Global News spoke with on Wednesday, who cited U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff and annexation threats in choosing to travel domestically this year.
The result is paying dividends for local tourism operators.
“Lots of Canadians, definitely. Yesterday there were people down on the docks, they said they chose to travel to B.C. rather than travelling to the ‘States,” said Nik Coutinho with Prince of Whales whale watching.
Coutinho said business was already brisk, ahead of the company’s official seasonal launch later this month when they activate their larger boats.
The company’s bread and butter, American visitors, are still showing up in numbers while the Canadian component has increased.
“Its a lot like just after COVID where the borders were closed, and Canadians really rediscovered their backyard,” he said.
Bill Lewis, chair of the Greater Victoria Hotel Association cited the weak Canadian dollar as a key factor in the boom, both in luring U.S. visitors and keeping Canadians at home.
“We’re really seeing much higher than expected numbers for March this year … It’s more than we’ve seen the last couple of spring breaks,” he said.
“Which is typically an off-season, shoulder-season month and we are seeing hotels getting close to full.”
Data backs up the anecdotal evidence.
Flight Centre reported a 40-per cent drop in leisure bookings to the U.S. year over year in February. Statistics Canada reported a 23-per cent drop in Canadian return trips across the U.S. border over the same time frame.
BC Ferries, meanwhile, says local traffic is brisk.
“We’re seeing high volumes of traffic across all of the key routes – obviously, a lot of families taking advantage of the school holiday to travel between the island and the mainland,” spokesperson Shiryn Sayani said.
It remains how long the trend will last.
Currency markets and Trump’s actions both remain impossible to predict.
And Canadians’ anger may linger long beyond any political conflicts if tourists like Ontario’s Ruth Ward are any indication.
“I don’t care if I ever go again,” Ward said.