Cars wait to enter Canada at the Thousand Islands US/Canada border crossing in Lansdowne, Ont. on July 30.The United States border is about a 30 minute drive from Palatine Hills Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. During the peak summer season, American tourists can account for as much as a quarter of the winery’s guest traffic. But for more than 16 months, Palatine has been largely devoid of U.S. visitors, who have been unable to drive across the border for leisure travel.
Despite the bleak backdrop, the reopening of the border creates a brief but unique opportunity for tourism operators: Americans can travel here, but the U.S. land border is still closed to non-essential travel until August 21. “We’re trying to take advantage of that situation where we’re helping to encourage more and more domestic travel, while we also welcome back Americans,” says Beth Potter, president and chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
Harvest Hosts is betting some of those Americans will roll over the border in recreational vehicles. The U.S.-based company offers a membership program for RVers, partnering with businesses to allow campers to stay overnight at their facilities. The company works with some 220 businesses in Canada, including farms, breweries and museums.
Oh how sad….another example of toxic optimism.