Strong U.S. dollar putting pressure on Canadian tourists

The strong U.S. dollar is putting a dent in some Canadians’ trips to the Grand Strand this year.

The Canadian dollar is worth only about 82 cents in the United States, leaving visitors from the Grand Strand’s top international market skipping their trips or spending less while they’re here.

“You have to be very careful of what you spend,” said Barbara Langley of Ontario, who arrived with her husband Gary on the Grand Strand last week for a 10-day stay.

The Langleys — like other Canadians who have visited the Grand Strand this spring — had already booked their trips so they still came even though their money doesn’t go as far on this side of the border.

“The dollar went crazy and we didn’t didn’t want to give it up,” Langley said of their planned vacation. “You just have to do less than what you normally would do.”

Canada has long been the Grand Strand’s top international tourist market, and has even been celebrated for more than half a century through the Canadian-American Days festival each spring along the Grand Strand. Canadians tend to visit during the spring, fall and winter when the beach isn’t as busy — making their visits here even more important.

Tourism leaders say Canadians are watching their dollars more closely, trying to find discounts or skipping meals at restaurants or trips to attractions. Some just couldn’t make it this year because of it.

The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce tried to ensure that Canadians would still come this year by touting the area’s affordability in ads “in hopes of positioning ourselves as the ideal place to enjoy a great vacation getaway without spending a lot of money,” chamber president Brad Dean said, adding that he believes most are still coming but are scaling back expenses while here.

“Canadians are feeling the pinch from a strong dollar, but the impact is not keeping most Canadians from traveling to our community, though it is impacting their discretionary expenditures,” Dean said. “We expect Canadian travel to our community in 2015 to hold steady, but we will likely see a decrease in overall expenditures by Canadians due to the stronger dollar.”

Canadian visitors can make up as much as 35 percent of a hotel’s business during the spring. And they tend to stay longer — 10 to 14 days — than the beach’s other tourists, a plus for local hotels.

“It’s good business,” said Robert Dowd, assistant general manager at the Best Western Grand Strand Inn & Suites on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, where most check-ins last week were visitors from Canada. “It’s a substantial part of business right now.”

Though the Canadian guests are still showing up at the Best Western, they are trying to cut back on their vacation expenses, Dowd said.

“They are just a little more conscious of what type of room they are in ... and make sure they get all the discounts they can,” he said.

The unfavorable exchange rate prompted some Canadians to skip their tips to the Grand Strand this year, some resort managers say.

“We get a lot of repeat guests who come here. A lot of them couldn’t make it,” said Kristal Brown, who handles reservations at Myrtle Beach Resort.

The exchange rate didn’t affect the busy spring break/Easter travel season for WestJet, which flies from Toronto to Myrtle Beach, though those trips likely would have been booked and paid for some time ago, WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said.

“Demand for travel to the U.S. remains fairly steady,” he said. “That said, clearly we are watching the dollar closely for signs that demand may soften due to concerns over foreign exchange.”

Despite fixing more meals while on their Myrtle Beach vacation instead of eating out, the Langleys aren’t letting the dollar put a damper on their trip.

“Oh, well,” Langley said. “You only live once.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Strong U.S. dollar putting pressure on Canadian tourists."