Bellingham, WA businesses struggle as Canadian tourism slumps
Bellingham Businesses Struggle as Canadian Tourism Slumps
A new survey from the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce illustrates ballooning concerns for some local businesses dependent on Canadian shoppers. More than half of the sixty businesses surveyed say they’ve been directly impacted by a drop in cross-border travel — and some say they may not survive without a rebound.
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A new survey from the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce illustrates ballooning concerns for some local businesses dependent on Canadian shoppers.
More than half of the 60 businesses surveyed say they've been directly impacted by a drop in cross-border travel – and some say they may not survive without a rebound.
Local perspective:
Sasha Lysikov, owner of the children's boutique Minted Method in Fairhaven, says the downturn in Canadian traffic has been devastating.
"A lot of people from Victoria come down during the summer, and it's the middle of summer, and we have not seen any Canadian traffic," remarked Lysikov.
She says it's been three to four months since she's seen a Canadian customer. Many complain about strict spending limits and delays at the border.
"It's been months since they were here, and they were complaining about the border, about the max they can spend while they're here," Lysikov said.
The drop in activity has forced Lysikov to cut employee hours. She recently took to social media to inform customers of her store's precarious situation.
"I didn't want to just suddenly close on our customers without giving them a heads-up," she said. "We are really reliant on the Canadian traffic to come down here."
She's not alone. The downturn in Canadian foot traffic has been a thread tying together business concerns from retail to lodging. "We're at a point where we've been cutting hours for our employees," Lysikov added.
Big picture view:
The issue is widespread, according to Guy Occhiogrosso, president of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. He stressed not all Bellingham businesses are reliant on Canadian traffic, but many expect it.
"I think on the surface, the elephant in the room – if you will – is the drop in cross-border shopping," Occhiogrosso said. "It's integrated into the business model, it's integrated into the customer base."
A joint survey conducted by the Chamber and Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute found that several respondents shared they’ve lost business or experienced increased costs. Impacts they connect to cross-border tensions.
Occhiogrosso also points to the exchange rate as a key factor. At the start of the year, the Canadian dollar dropped to about 70 cents U.S. — a threshold that often discourages Canadians from traveling south to shop.
"We’ve always known that it's pretty close to the bottom of the exchange rate, where it just doesn’t make financial sense for Canadians to shop here," he said. "If the exchange rate were at 85 percent right now, I’m not certain we would be having this conversation or seeing the depth of the drop."
In addition to retail, the local hospitality sector is also feeling the strain. Hotels and lodging businesses are seeing fewer overnight stays and declining revenue, Occhiogrosso said.
"Broadly speaking, we are seeing a drop in visits, a drop in overnight stays, and we’re also seeing drops in spending," he said.
What they're saying:
At the Colophon Café in Fairhaven, general manager Jenni Hannan says the downturn has been striking.
"This is my 12th summer going in here," Hannan said. "So I’m used to this being the crazy, chaotic, busy time. And we’re just not getting quite that flavor of summer, I guess."
She’s always factored in Canadian holidays and traffic into business planning — until now.
"I even heard there was a push in the hospitality industry that they were offering at cost for Canadian travelers to come stay here," she said. "We need it — we love them — and I hope that we can kind of turn this ship around and bring that relationship back together."
What's next:
Looking ahead, Occhiogrosso sees a possible rebound opportunity tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"We’re in between two games, Seattle and Vancouver," he said. "We are a ‘fan zone,’ and Vancouver’s technically closer to us."
Until then, the storefronts of Fairhaven remain dotted with hearts and maple leaves, silent pleas for their northern neighbors to return.
The Source: Information in this story came from live interviews with local business owners and the president of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
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