President Trump's Trudeau comments could hurt the Myrtle Beach economy

About 500,000 Canadians head to the Grand Strand each spring and fall to spend a month vacationing, according to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Proposed tariffs and comments made by President Donald Trump earlier this month are making some rethink that annual tradition.

The Sun News received several complaints after Trump proposed new tariffs and called out Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Twitter after the G-7 summit in Quebec.

"PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our G-7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, 'US Tariffs were kind of insulting' and he 'will not be pushed around,' " Trump tweeted earlier this month. "Very dishonest & weak."

The tariffs, which were proposed in May, would impact the automobile industry, which in turn could impact Canada's economy, The Washington Post reported.

Specifically, the tariffs would be on imported cars and trucks. According to Bloomberg, the proposal has been strongly opposed by senior Republican senators and business leaders.

"I've heard of a great many Canadians tell me they're not traveling anywhere in the United States. Not just Myrtle Beach," said Clarence Keenan, an Ontario resident. "As a matter of fact, somebody asked me if I was going to Myrtle Beach and I said no because of Mr. Trump, and they said 'Atta boy, don't go.' "

Keenan is just one Canadian tourist who is considering vacationing somewhere other than the United States. He has been coming to the Grand Strand for five years. Now, he said, he's going to vacation in Portugal.

According to Diana Greene, interim chief of staff at the chamber, the Grand Strand has not seen an impact from Trump's comments because it is the summer season. Canadian tourists tend to come down in the spring, fall and winter months.

However, chamber officials are receiving complaints from potential Canadian tourists.

"We have had just a couple people write in who were not happy, they were Canadians who mentioned perhaps, they were sad to some of the different national policies taking place because they were huge Myrtle Beach fans," Greene said.

Each year, the chamber hosts Can-Am Days, which offers tours around the Grand Strand and deals at hotels and local attractions. This year was the 57th festival hosted for Canadian tourists.

In Canada, Ontario resident Gary Round said travel agents from other countries are advertising for Canadian tourists.

"I understand how important Canadians are to the local economy and North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach, and if a whole bunch of people are feeling the way my wife does, and increasingly me, it's gonna hurt," Round said. "It's gonna hurt you guys and it's gonna hurt us too because we won't get to come down."

What would a decrease mean for Myrtle Beach's economy?

About 5 percent of visitors to the chamber's website last year came from Canada. That evens out to about half a million people, Greene said.

"I think anytime you look at a decrease in tourism from an area that has traditionally provided us with a good tourism base and we have a positive relationship with, obviously that's not what any of us wish to see," Greene said. "Our hope is that we're going to continue to put out our message and the fact that Myrtle Beach, and our area, is open."

For Round, the problem isn't with the local government.

"My wife and I look at it, we eat out almost every night," Round said. "So we're in restaurants literally 35 nights in a row. And if not at night, it's cause we've went out for lunch. And I think you will see a falloff in people from Canada coming down, I really do."

Greene said the chamber has a representative in the Canadian market who works to promote Myrtle Beach. The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce continually sends out emails promoting the north end of the beach, Round said.

"It's too important of a market for us, and our hope is that we can just continue to work on that relationship and how it applies to the Myrtle Beach area," Greene said.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 2:06 PM.