Many industries have felt the impacts of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, the tourism industry is no exception.
Johnathan Potts is the CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan, he says one of the main impacts are higher input costs for businesses and organizations. However, there has been an unexpected positive.
“As everyone knows, there's a very strong push for buying Canadian products, staying in Canada, lots of people are cancelling trips to the United States, reconsidering their travel plans and looking for destinations locally and across the country. We anticipate that there'll be a significant boost in Canadian and Saskatchewan residents looking for things to do across the province."
Potts explains there is data that shows that in the first two to three weeks of Trumps administration, there was a 25 to 30 percent cancellation rate for trips to the U.S.
“A lot of that isn't showing up immediately because people already had trips booked and if they had paid deposits, they're keeping them. But especially when summer comes around, we really anticipate seeing a significant impact there.”
He explains that the push for travelling local “has been done for us” saying the strong sense of national pride in Saskatchewan residents has them taking that action independent of external motivation.
“We don't need to really make that point. Our role now, as we see it, is to really emphasize the things that people love to do within Saskatchewan or if they're coming to Saskatchewan from elsewhere, talk about some great experiences we have, some great destinations we have, and just lean in, if you will, on the things that they love to do."
Potts highlights some of the tourism opportunities to be found within the land of living skies, noting the 34 provincial parks and 101 regional parks. He also recommends travelling to other communities for various cultural experiences, dining opportunities, museums, and events.
“We're also becoming really well known as a destination for things like astro-tourism, so night sky viewing, for birding, outdoor photography, things like that. So people with those real kind of niche interests are really starting to recognize Saskatchewan as a premier destination as well.”
With the local pride of Saskatchewan residents fueling the push for local travel, Potts shares the sentiment and emphasizes the opportunities to be found within the province.
“I would encourage everyone in the province to take a look at some of the great options we have. Over the last five years, we've seen a real groundswell of support within the province for the provincial tourism industry and people learning more about all the great things to do. So if they've built up that bucket list of activities that they want to take part in, now's a great year to get out there and do those things.”