Canadians taking advantage of high loonie; venturing out in Montana
Written by
ERIN MADISON
Myrna Wollan, manager of the Comfort Inn in Shelby, expected a slow summer, with the high price of gas keeping many tourists away.
While gas prices may be discouraging some travelers, the Comfort Inn is busy, thanks in large part to the high number of Canadians staying at the hotel.
"It's been really good," Wollan said of the summer travel season. "It's been better than we expected."
Earlier this summer, a whole bus load of Canadian tourists stayed at the Comfort Inn. They were on their way to Glacier and then to Lake Louise.
"This was the first year we've ever seen a Canadian tour bus come down," Wollan said.
Other travelers come down for shopping or golfing.
"I think their dollar just goes a little further down here," she said.
As of Thursday, the Canadian Loonie, nicknamed for the bird that appears on the one-dollar coin, was nearly on par with the American dollar, worth $1.01. In late July, the Loonie hit a three-and-a-half-year high of $1.06. The last time the Canadian dollar was worth that much was November 2007, when a Canadian Loonie bought $1.07 in U.S. currency.
Local tourism agencies are seeing the evidence of the rising Loonie in the form of more visits by our northern neighbors.
"We're certainly seeing a lot of Canadians," said Gayle Fisher, the director of Russell Country, the state's promotion arm for 13 counties in northcentral Montana.
Since 2007, the Canadian Loonie has remained nearly on par with the U.S. dollar, except for a dip in late 2008 and early 2009 when it dropped as low as 77 cents.
Canadians didn't seem to stop coming to Montana, and their prevalence here seems to be, once again, on the rise.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection doesn't specifically track the number of Canadians crossing into Montana, but daily traffic at the Port of Sweetgrass does seem higher than it was at this time last year, said Lynn Shozda, public affairs liaison for CBP at Sweetgrass.
"The strong Canadian dollar probably has a lot to do with it," she said.
Last summer, the Canadian dollar ranged from about 94 cents to 98 cents in U.S. currency.
Actual border crossing numbers, however, show a drop in the number of crossings at Sweetgrass. Crossings by passenger vehicles were down 10 percent in June compared with June 2010 and 8 percent in July compared to last year. Shozda suspects that drop is on paper only. There has been a change in how the agency counts vehicles and passengers.
Fisher noticed more Canadian travelers visiting a wider area. The tourists used to stick to the main thoroughfares, such as Interstate 15, but more recently they've been venturing farther out.
"Now I am seeing the license plates really throughout the region," she said.
Fisher also noticed more visitors from Saskatchewan. Montana used to mainly attract tourists from Alberta.
Canadians seem to come to Montana for a wide variety of reasons — to see a concert, visit a museum or just have a weekend get away. But no matter their main reason for coming, shopping always seems to be part of their trip, Fisher said.
The Delver family, from near Fort McLeod, Alberta, travels to Montana about twice a year. This summer they came down for the Montana State Fair, but while they were here they couldn't resist the good deals they found shopping.
"This is the most shopping we've done," said Curtis Delver, who traveled to Great Falls with his wife and two kids. "Our dollar is so strong right now compared to the U.S. dollar."
The Delvers visited Hoglund's, Big R and Western Ranch Supply and found boots, hats and other western ware for the whole family.
"I'd say there's better selection than what we're accustomed to," Delver said.
Alison Fried, owner of Dragonfly Dry Goods, has been busy with Canadian shoppers over the summer.
"In the summer, we see them every single day," she said.
Though many of the products at Dragonfly are available in Canada — some are even Canadian companies — they're typically less expensive here.
"They think they're getting a ripping deal," Fried said. "Everything's on sale for them."
Canadians also seem to be attracted to stores that they don't have in their home country, Fisher said. Victoria's Secret and Target are both popular draws.
Thanks to activity in the Canadian oil sands north of Calgary, incomes in Alberta are rising dramatically, said Bob Frazier, executive vice president emeritus for the University of Montana and senior fellow for Canadian affairs at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.
"Oil and gas are helping to drive the Alberta economy," he said.
That means Albertans have extra income to spend, he said.
The Great Falls International Airport has seen many Canadians drive down from the north to catch flights in Great Falls, said John Faulkner, airport director.
Allegiant flights are particularly popular.
"Allegiant says about 60 to 65 percent of their flights are Canadian (passengers)," Faulkner said.
While the strong Canadian dollar is likely contributing to the number of Canadian passengers, Canadian taxes on airline tickets are much higher than in the United States. That makes flying out of Great Falls a less expensive option for many Canadians regardless of the exchange rate.
"We'll likely always be cheaper," Faulkner said.
When Canadians do fly out of Great Falls, they often spend a night here on one end of their trip, staying in a hotel and eating at restaurants and thereby supporting local businesses, he said.
While the strong Loonie is benefiting tourism in the United States, it's having the opposite effect on tourism in Canada.
Frazier spends about two weeks every month in Canada and has noticed a significant drop in the number of other Americans he sees there.
"There are very few U.S. plates in any of the provinces I've been in," he said.