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By Guy Page
News item: Businesses in the Northeast Kingdom are now accepting Canadian dollars at par with U.S. dollars. Think about that for a minute. A Canadian dollar is worth only about 70 cents U.S., yet Kingdom Trails, Burke Mountain Resort and participating businesses are saying, “We’ll take it at full value.”
The Northeast Kingdom tourist officials and businesses recently announced Canadian Community Month. It’s Part of the shared “Cross the Border. Discover the Kingdom.” campaign to bring Canadians to Kingdom Trails.
Now through August 6, Canadian dollars will be accepted at par with U.S. dollars for annual and day memberships purchased in person at the Kingdom Trails Welcome Center.
Why? Because they need Canadian visitors. The NEK in particular draws crowds of Canadians. Recently my wife and I hiked Mount Pisgah off of Lake Willoughby in Westmore, and almost everyone at those beautiful lookouts near the summit spoke French. And indeed you can see Quebec from there. New Yorkers come to Woodstock, Canadians come to the Kingdom but not so much since President Donald Trump said Canada should become the 51st state. Canadians are very polite but they love their country and they don’t want to be annexed by the US of A, something that was kind of tried in the War of 1812 and didn’t work out so well.
For generations, Canadians have been among Vermont’s best customers. They fill our hotels, campgrounds, bike trails, restaurants and country stores. But political tensions, a weak Canadian dollar, and changing travel habits have cut deeply into cross-border tourism.
Businesses aren’t taking loonies on par because times are booming. They’re making it because they need people to come back.
That’s smart business. They’re adapting. They’re investing in customers. They’re doing everything they can to keep Vermont’s tourism economy alive.
Which brings me to a missed opportunity that still bothers me.
Thru Friday, America is celebrating its 250th birthday with the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington. Millions of visitors came through our nation’s capital. Every state had an opportunity to tell its story and invite Americans to visit.
Vermont should have been front and center.
Imagine what we could have showcased: the Green Mountain Boys, the independent Vermont Republic, maple syrup, dairy farms, our ski resorts, fall foliage, covered bridges, Lake Champlain, the birthplace of President Calvin Coolidge, and the story of the first state admitted after the original thirteen colonies. The first state to ban slavery.
Instead, bowing to the anti-Trump Resistance, Vermont chose not to participate.
The Governor said it came down to cost and timing. But if businesses in the Northeast Kingdom are willing to absorb a 30-percent exchange-rate loss just to attract visitors, surely promoting Vermont at one of the biggest patriotic celebrations in decades deserved a serious look.
Tourism is one of Vermont’s largest industries. Every visitor who fills a hotel room, eats at a local restaurant, shops on Main Street, or buys a tank of gas helps support Vermont families and small businesses.
This wasn’t about partisan politics. It was about marketing Vermont.
When local businesses are offering discounts just to bring Canadians across the border, it tells us something important. Competition for tourists has never been tougher. That’s exactly why every opportunity to showcase Vermont matters.
Our state has an incredible story to tell. We shouldn’t miss the chance to tell it—whether it’s to our neighbors in Quebec or to millions of Americans looking for their next vacation.
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Categories: News Analysis
If you didn’t know better*, you’d think they actually WANT to destroy the vestiges of the Vermont economy. Must not need that Rooms and Meals tax…
*Check credulity here
Does this mean that they are discriminating against Americans by making them pay more. What’s going to stop people from going to the bank and exchanging their currency so that they can ride and ski cheaper? What’s can I get for 100 pesos?
Besides, it is nothing more than Canadian TDS that stops them from coming here.
Funny how EVERY disagreement with the current administration just gets labeled “TDS.” Even if you happen to disagree with your country being taken over by another . . .
My point was that there is absolutely nothing stopping Canadian tourists from coming here except for the fact that the current Administration started a reciprocal tariff program and somehow, in their tiny little minds, they feel slighted and blame all their woes on our President. Call it what you will, TDS, USH, TEFM, etc.,etc..
Vermont made the right decision not to participate in this political event. What did we miss, maybe a 20 or 30 people stopping by the booth?
Vermont didn’t make this decision! The progressive cabals of Trump haters displayed the petulant child behaviors that mark their response to anything that isn’t part of their agenda, made the decision. I was there and couldn’t even find the Vermont pavilion, which was unmarked and wedged between the Kentucky and Rhode Island(another nonparticipating Blue State) pavilions. I recall hearing a TV reporter state on 3 July 350,000 people were at the event and personally couldn’t enter the next day because of the even greater crowd, resulting in 2-3 hour waits in 100+ degree weather! So your snarky, biased comment is just that.
More like hundreds or even thousands of people stopping at the booth.
It’s a bit late to start complaining. Business groups could have organized what the state government refused to.
The business groups are beholden to the “alphabet collection of nonprofits” which dislike the current administration and haunt the halls of the State House dispensing “campaign donations” and influence to our elected “representatives”! It is all about using this state to advance the progressive agenda, not to help Vermonters. The current administration is an impediment to this, and in the minds of the progressives must be stopped regardless of how we Vermonters may be affected!
I think NEK did what they could to draw their Canadian Tourist back. Your headline seems misleading. It wasn’t so much to spite Trump, but to draw customers.
Canadians nice and friendly? More like arrogant and demanding.
TDS is alive and well in Vermont. I’m thankful for the noticeable change in my income tax return. Instead of paying the government $600 as I had for quite a few years on my retirement income I got back $200 this past year. Thank you President Trump! It’s much better in my pocket than in the massive government fraud that the Trump Administration found in many States.
John Kirkby……the country wasn’t taken over. The country elected a leader in a landslide. The pendulum swings and we have to take it in stride. I do my best to remain in the world and not of the world. I am just a visitor here. I am at peace knowing that no matter what, we are in the best of hands.
I was at Lake George during the 4th and it was sad how empty it was. The people here commenting 1) probably can’t find Canada on the map 2) are living off social security and could care less what the economy is for the rest of us. So what’s it matter if our President drove away billions of dollars, we got to feel big! This is all because of his 51st State rhetoric, which is a reminder of how sad it is that little Donnie and his followers need to feel big by making others feel small. lol
So Chris, you went out of Vermont to spend your money, headed to the Northeast largest bastion of tyranny and socialism. So Vermont business didn’t receive a penny of your vacation money and you paid the high NY Taxes on purchases.
eager80: I’m referring to the vast majority of Canadians not wanting to become our 51st state. Not an unreasonable desire for anyone who loves their own country.
Ron Bootlick, I know that you’re trying to do some sort of dumb gotcha game there but I went to the lake for the day and bought lunch and some ice cream. Please make your burn make sense. Do you boycott New York? Do you only vacation in-state? You’re probably one of the five guys who still doesn’t drink Bud Light to own people that don’t even know you exist lol.
Canadians don’t tip well, that we all know!