Is Moose Jaw the next vacation hotspot? How Canadian tourism might benefit from Canada-U.S. rift

Keith Fowke of Winnipeg often takes his household southbound of the borderline for a holiday. But with ongoing tariff unpredictability and annexation threats coming from U.S. President Donald Trump, Fowke says helium won't measurement ft successful the state this year.

Instead, he's readying a household roadworthy trip, possibly to the Royal Tyrrell Museum — a.k.a. the Dinosaur Museum — successful Drumheller, Alta.

"You know, going connected the No. 1 highway, that's a precise Canadian happening to do. And, you know, there's immoderate smaller communities astir Drumheller, truthful we tin program things retired a small bit," Fowke told CBC Radio's Cost of Living.

"We're going to walk our dollars successful Canada where, you know, radical mightiness beryllium having economical hard times and we privation to enactment our dollars wherever it tin assistance Canadians."

Fowke isn't the lone one. The past fewer months person shown a drastic driblet successful Canadian travel crossed the border, whether for concern oregon pleasure. And galore successful the home tourism manufacture — including successful Fowke's hometown — accidental immoderate of the little evident locations, including tiny towns, could payment the most. 

"I judge successful some Canada and the U.S., erstwhile they're reasoning of travelling to Canadian cities, they rather often deliberation of MTV: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver," said Tyler Walsh, manager of selling for Winnipeg's economical improvement including tourism. 

"And it's cities similar Winnipeg that I deliberation person to enactment a small spot harder, and possibly beryllium a small much creative, to truly marque an impact."

Canadians 'afraid to spell to the U.S.'

Christine Chettiar runs a furniture and meal successful Bathurst, N.B., that tin accommodate astir 30 radical astatine a time. She says she's presently afloat booked for the summer, which doesn't usually hap until the extremity of August. 

Canadians "are acrophobic to spell to the U.S.," she said bluntly. "I person immoderate clients that ... say, 'Well, you know, we're not going to question to the U.S.,' due to the fact that ... they perceive connected the quality they mightiness fastener you up." 

Reports of checkpoints being acceptable up on the U.S.-Canada border, and 1 Canadian's communicative of being detained for 11 days by U.S. immigration, person further fuelled question fears.

Chettiar herself shelved what would person been a regular travel to spot friends successful Miami. The Trump factor, she says, is affecting wherever radical connected some sides of the borderline are readying to stay. 

"I deliberation he's a lunatic," she said. "U.S. radical are very, precise bully radical and we person bully friends there. We person household there, and truthful they are coming to sojourn america instead."

Wayne Smith, a prof of tourism astatine Toronto Metropolitan University, says radical are taking the alteration successful cross-border relations to hunt for thing a small much disconnected the beaten way this summer.

"You tin spell to Toronto anytime, you tin spell to Vancouver anytime, but you're not ever going to spell to, you know, Wawa [in bluish Ontario]. And [those that bash are] getting an acquisition that's precise different," helium said. 

Beyond MTV (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver)

Several cities are calibrating their advertisement campaigns to instrumentality advantage. 

Take Winnipeg, which describes itself arsenic "Canada's mediate child" successful a caller tourism campaign. It adjacent includes a mascot named Winnie Fred, who is shaped similar the city's boundaries, that appears connected billboards. 

"There's a small of a wink and a motion and evidently a consciousness of humour with this full happening that we're precise excited," said Walsh.

WATCH | Does Winnipeg person 'middle-child syndrome?' Tourism Winnipeg thinks so:

Recent tourism ads for Newfoundland and Labrador diagnostic expected images similar icebergs, but they besides absorption connected the province's small-town residents astir apt to beryllium taking successful tourist dollars. 

The program appears to beryllium working. Marine Atlantic, the ferry work that takes visitors to the westbound seashore of Newfoundland, told Cost of Living it has 7,000 much bookings compared to this clip past year.

Steve Crocker, the province's curate of tourism, culture, arts and recreation, says it's a "bucket-list destination" for galore Canadians, and that since truthful galore of them are reconsidering plans to sojourn the U.S., they're yet making plans to people it disconnected their list. 

"You are affecting truly section businesses, mom-and-pop shops, businesses with, you know, 2 and 3 and 4 employees," said Crocker. "That's who you volition walk a batch of your clip supporting if you travel to Newfoundland and Labrador."

Wooing American tourists, too

Moose Jaw, Sask., is besides taking a cheeky code successful its tourism propulsion this twelvemonth — but it features Mayor James Murdock promoting the metropolis to imaginable American tourists. 

The video features Mac the Moose — a elephantine sculpture that astatine 10.36 metres is recognized arsenic the largest moose successful the satellite — and the city's moniker arsenic "Canada's astir notorious city." 

That's mostly a notation to its underground tunnels, which person been the absorption of galore rumours, including 1 that gangsters similar Al Capone utilized them to smuggle booze during Prohibition. 

Donna Fritzke, the city's manager of tourism, says visits past twelvemonth contributed $134 cardinal to the section economy, with astir $18 cardinal coming specifically from Americans. But she's besides seeing increasing involvement among Canadians. 

"We're truly excited astir it, due to the fact that from what we've been hearing, radical bash privation to enactment person to location and visit, you know, their ain backyard." 

Dennis Campbell, CEO of the Ambassatours Grey Line, which runs vessel cruises and sightseeing tours crossed the Maritimes, says concern has been up by astir 40 per cent overall compared to past year. The biggest summation is from Canadian tourists, followed by Europeans and past Americans. 

Part of that is the favourable speech rate, due to the anemic Canadian dollar close now. But successful the past fewer weeks, helium said he's had to entertain antithetic questions from Americans, though possibly understandable given the existent governmental climate. 

"We've started to get the question from respective of the customers saying, 'Will we beryllium welcome?' And of course, the reply is, 'Yes, of people you will,'" helium said. 

"As Canadians, arsenic Maritimers, that's who we are. And we're conscionable very, precise friendly, hospitable people. It's successful our DNA. And truthful adjacent successful challenging times, it's bully to spot that radical basal by their values and proceed to beryllium welcoming to our friends and visitors from everywhere." 

Keith Fowke successful Winnipeg says he's inactive successful the aboriginal phases of readying each the stops for his summertime roadworthy trip, but helium knows 1 thing: helium won't beryllium unsocial staying person to home.

"Now is simply a bully clip to get disconnected our butts and spell spot our section tourism spots," helium said.