Representatives from major tourist hubs in California were in Vancouver last week, and they had a lot to say about the drop in travellers to America and hopes for renewed traveller interest.
Daily Hive spoke to the CEO and president of Visit West Hollywood (or WeHo), Tom Kiely, and other leaders, and they all had similar things to say and similar frustrations to share.
The tone was hopeful and apologetic, and one thing every leader was aligned on was the feeling of exasperation with the current American leadership and the apparent fact that they miss Canadians, including B.C. residents, heading down that way.
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“Canada’s really important to us,” Kiely said, sharing that it’s a “tough time” right now.
“We’re here to offer our apologies, quite frankly, for this mess we’re in.”
We asked Kiely what brought him and his colleagues from California to Vancouver and the province specifically, and he shared that he hoped that the event would serve as a starting point to rebuilding a relationship between the two regions.
While the event also had a stint in Alberta and Ontario, the West Coast connection between B.C. and California can’t be understated. The relationship between the two regions is historic, dating back to the gold rush. The two regions share a strong connection in the film industry today.
“People don’t want to come to the United States. It’s a real wake-up call for us,” Kiely said.
He also shared that in some cases, people who are travelling to the States aren’t sharing that reality with their friends or loved ones due to the stigma around it.
We’ve documented how much travel to the States has fallen between B.C. and Washington State.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, October was no different, as there was a 37 per cent drop in travellers this October compared to last. Looking at vehicle traffic, that translates to a decline of around 70,000 visitors.
“We miss our Canadian friends, we really do, and we just would like to have people know that they’re welcome,” he said.
We asked Kiely what the real impact has been on West Hollywood in numbers, and he said they usually get around 90,000 Canadian visitors per year. He added that there has been around a 10 per cent drop in travellers so far this year. Interestingly, Kiely said that as a luxury destination, luxury travellers are still heading down to not just West Hollywood, but to the States as a whole.
“That’s helped us maintain perhaps more of our business than Bellingham,” Kiely said, acknowledging the economic hardship the Washington city is facing.
A lot of the reasons behind the drop in travel are political, and Kiely tried to emphasize the fact that California is a very blue State. Kiely believes the 51st state rhetoric did a lot of damage and has cost the region millions of dollars.
Yesterday, Daily Hive reported that according to the latest travel forecast by the U.S. Travel Association, a national non-profit organization, inbound travel spending is expected to fall 3.2 per cent to US$173 billion for the year, a decrease of over US$5 billion in tourism revenue. The forecast states this is due mainly to a drop in visitors from Canada.
We asked Kiely about the fears that some travellers have expressed, around realities like being detained or fears around ICE, and he responded that California, specifically West Hollywood, is still extremely safe. He also said that he heard at a meeting not too long ago that not one person arriving in California was detained at an airport (not the same as secondary inspection).
Kiely also shared a reminder of one of the reasons California has historically been such a popular place for B.C. residents: the weather. California has always been a popular snowbird spot for B.C. residents.
As of 4 p.m. on Nov. 12, West Hollywood was sitting at 19˚C, while Vancouver was a chilly and wet 8˚C.
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Kiely and many of the Californian representatives that Daily Hive spoke to weren’t dismissing the concerns of Canadians and B.C. residents; in fact, they were very understanding, but they surely are hoping that things change sooner rather than later, and that Canadian travellers feel comfortable visiting their regions again.
On the other side of the coin, Vancouver has been trying to entice folks from California to visit Vancouver.
As a Vancouver resident, what will it take for you to book a trip to California again? Or maybe you never stopped? Share your thoughts in the comments.