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Five places in Canada that are happy about our lousy dollar

Danielle Boudreau

While the weakened Loonie is discouraging Canadians from heading south of the border this year, the upside is that we’re seeing more Americans spending their vacation dollars here, right? Well, actually no. Not really. “While Canadians follow the U.S. dollar, Americans do not generally track other currencies,” says David Rioux, Manager, Research & Business Data Analytics at Tourism Victoria.

A study by Destination British Columbia shows that only 11 per cent of American visitors cite the exchange rate as a factor in their travel decisions.

Americans may be travelling more, but that’s a result of the improved U.S. economy. The benefit of a stronger dollar when they come to Canada is just a nice, unexpected perk. “Very few Americans understand the currency differential when planning a trip,” says Rioux.

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We’re now trying to change that. The Government of Canada’s tourism marketing organization will spend almost $25-million in advertising in the U.S. in 2016. Here are the five Canadian destinations that would appear positioned to benefit from that spend.

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Torngat Mountains National Park – Photo: Canadian Tourism Commission

Newfoundland

Based in St. John’s, Maxxim Vacations sells self-drive and escorted vacations throughout Newfoundland, as well as the other Atlantic provinces.

“We are very excited to see an increase in business from the U.S. this year,” says Julie Curran. “At this point, we have seen about a 25 per cent increase in both inquiries and bookings over the same time period last year [from Americans].”

Curran said that at the New York Times travel show in January, about half of the potential visitors they spoke with were aware of the lower Canadian dollar.

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Photo: Canadian Tourism Commission

Churchill, MB

If Americans are working on their bucket list, an otherwise pricey item like seeing the polar bears in Manitoba is now more affordable. TIAC’s Taylor says that what was formerly a $9,000 trip could drop as low as $5,500 in American dollars.

“We haven’t really gone out there and put the big 40 per cent off signs on everything, but we’re making people as aware as possible,” says Taylor.

Packages for polar rovers tours and tundra lodge accommodations start at $5,695 U.S. with Great White Bear Tours.

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Photo: Canadian Tourism Commission

Victoria

Factoring in the exchange rate, the cost of a weekend trip for a couple travelling from San Francisco to Victoria this summer is roughly equivalent to Seattle, WA and Portland, OR, but Phoenix, AZ is still about a third cheaper.

Destination Canada has found that prices alone won’t work for tourism. American visitors are seeking value, quality accommodations and convenient transportation from their travel experience. The exchange rate cited as a factor by only 11 per cent of short haul trips to Victoria.

Accommodations in Victoria edged up 3 per cent in 2015 over 2014.

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Rocky Mountains

Three Bars Guest Ranch in Cranbrook, B.C., between Banff and Glacier National Park, had their best year on record last year. They’re 85 per cent sold out for 2016, and “all of the increase can be attributed to the U.S. market,” says Clare Mason, spokesperson for Destination British Columbia.

Visits to British Columbia increased 9.6 per cent to 3,263,395 in 2015.

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Photo: Banff Lake Louise Tourism

Banff National Park

“This season, we have seen a 50 per cent increase in U.S. vacation package sales through our reservation centre at www.skibig3.com,” says Pete Woods, general manager of Ski Banff-Lake Louise-Sunshine.

Woods says that their success can be attributed to a strategic collaboration between various Canadian marketing groups who targeted destination skiers in the U.S. and Canada.

He also says that there are more closer bookings this year. Visitors are booking trips a couple of weeks in advance, with most visitors flying to Calgary on direct flights from Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The resorts are part of a deal called Mountain Collective, which sells passes to use at some of the top ski destinations in North America.