July festivities decline in border towns, with U.S.-Canada ties still strained

Article content

B.C. has seen a smaller drop in U.S. visitors than Blaine has seen in Canadian visitors. Southbound Canadian crossings into Blaine fell about 35 per cent, while northbound U.S. traffic was down roughly 7 to 11 per cent, according to government and border-data sources.

Article content

The Niagara Parks’ Two Nation Celebration is holding its regular fireworks display, which is set off from the Canadian side and highlights red-and-white illumination for Canada Day and red-white-and-blue for July 4, with synchronized music on both sides of the border. A binational Illumination Board helps coordinate this, but apart from that, there is little by way of joint programming or marketing between the two sides.

Article content

The Canadian side, according to Adam Stiles, PR director for Niagara Falls Tourism, Ontario, is marketing its events heavily to Americans.

Article content

“We spend roughly more than a third of our marketing budget in the U.S.,” said Stiles.

Article content

But his American counterparts are not doing the same sort of cross-border advertising.

Article content

“We do a little bit of marketing in Canada,” said Sara Cercone, communications director for Destination Niagara USA. “But considering we share a border and people have access to the falls on that side as well, it’s not as much of a focus.”

Article content

Article content

“Our major markets for attracting visitors are the domestic drive market.”

Article content

Poloncarz explained how Erie’s marketing has been redirected away from Canada.

Article content

“We reduced the marketing for tourism in Southern Ontario, but we also increased marketing for tourism in Boston and Chicago,” he said.

Article content

Wedekindt pointed to another reason for less marketing to Canada: He said Artpark scaled back on its online ads because they were being overwhelmed by political discourse unrelated to his venue.

Article content

In Sackets Harbor, NY, a festival dating back to 1971 has a binational approach built into its name: the Can-Am Festival.

Article content

Held in mid-July, the festival celebrates the friendship between Sackets Harbor and Canada, says organizer Brenda Jock-Derouin.

Article content

This year, the festival is expanding to a Friday, making it a three-day event with bands, vendors, kids’ activities, a parade, fireworks, and a battlefield concert.

Article content

Jock-Derouin noted that online advertising last year led to some unfortunate responses from Canada, such as: “‘Why would I come there, you guys … dislike us,”’ but that she’s still hoping to do some Canadian outreach.

Article content

Article content

“We’re going ahead with it no matter what, whether they come or not,” she said.

Article content

“We hope that they would join us. They’re welcome to join us, but like I said, each to their own.”

Article content

Article content

Jennifer Bettis, research and program manager at the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, said that, in her Cascade Gateway region, B.C.-plated vehicles entering the U.S. were still down more than 30 per cent this spring compared to 2024, but they were up slightly in May.

Article content

“The numbers are stabilizing a little bit,” she said, noting how “Canadian travel into the U.S. is very modestly increasing for the first time.”

Article content

“We’re recovering, but we’re still lower than what we were when this drop first started,” Bettis added.

Article content

And officials and planners in U.S. border towns are starting to see a difference, but they remain sceptical of a breakthrough.

Article content

“We are seeing more Canadian cars coming down on the weekends,” said Blaine’s Mayor Steward.

Article content

“I don’t think they’re necessarily coming to stay,” she added.

Article content

National Post

Article content

Article content