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Lovin' the Loonies Canadians Descend on Flathead Valley with Buying in Mind

By LYNNETTE HINTZE, The Daily Inter Lake

They're back. And they're buying everything from cars to condos...

Ever since the Canadian dollar reached a 30-year high against the United States dollar in November, Flathead Valley businesses have seen a dramatic upswing in visitor traffic from across the border.

Canadians are everywhere and they're readily pulling out their pocketbooks.

"They didn't have enough hands to carry all their bags," Red Lion Hotel General Manager Lisa Brown said about the bus load of Canadians that shopped at Kalispell Center Mall before Christmas. "It's definitely significant for us and the mall."

Grouse Mountain Lodge Senior Sales Manager Jeff Laverdiere said he, too, has seen a big increase in Canadian traffic, especially golf groups booking trips for this spring and summer.

"Last year [2007] we started seeing it, but over the last several months there's been quite a bit of increase," Laverdiere said in late December.

MONTANA began benefiting from a stronger Canadian dollar well before Nov. 7, 2007, when the loonie hit a high of $1.10 against the U.S. dollar.

The Canadian Consulate in Denver, which tracks Canadian trade and visitors in Montana, found that in 2005, Canadians made more than 459,000 visits to Montana, spending $85 million. By the end of 2006, the number had grown to 531,100 Canadian visits to the Big Sky state; spending grew to $112 million.

By the same token, a weaker U.S. dollar kept more Montanans away from Canada. In 2005, Montana residents made 120,700 visits to Canada and spent $50 million. In 2006, the numbers had dropped to 114,800 visits by Montanans to Canada, and they spent $40 million.

Figures for 2007 aren't available.

Just five years ago it took $1.60 in Canadian currency to equal one U.S. dollar. Canadian license plates were few and far between in Flathead parking lots. That's all changed now.

NEW CARS are a sought-after commodity by Canadians visiting the Flathead. Typically, Canadians can save $12,000 to $15,000 by purchasing a vehicle here, Don K Chevrolet General Manager Tony DeMarco said.

Whitefish-based Don K has seen a surge in vehicle sales to Canadians, but under General Motors' franchise agreement, the dealership can only sell to Canadians who own homes here, DeMarco said. And after the loonie's surge in value in November, GM increased incentives for Canadian dealers to even the playing field.

It hasn't stopped affluent buyers from shopping in Montana, though.

High-end vehicles such as GM's Duramax crew-cab diesel are among the favorites for Canadians who come to Don K with cash. Chevy Tahoes and Suburbans also are very popular, DeMarco said. Savings on the lot for such a vehicle is about $15,000, but after Canadians pay a 5 percent goods and services tax at the border, the savings drops to about $12,000.

Simpson Motors in Kalispell sold roughly 150 vehicles to Canadians last year, General Manager G.J. Hensen said. Floor traffic has increased, and phone and Internet inquiries have surged.

While the exchange rate helps local car dealers, it is a double-edged sword, Hensen said, because it takes money out of the Canadian economy. Car manufacturers have varying policies about how and where factory warranty work is handled, and inquiries to customer-service representatives can vary, depending on who you talk to.

"It makes it difficult to get anything binding," Hensen said.

A Web site, www.ucanimport.com, steps Canadians through the process of buying south of the border.

CANADIANS attending the Calgary Snow Show in November were giddy about getting a chance to return to ski resorts in Montana without it costing a lot, said Jan Metzmaker, director of the Whitefish Visitor and Convention Bureau.

"We talked to tons of Canadians who hadn't been to Whitefish for 10 to 15 years. They still knew every bar and business here."

The Whitefish bureau promoted special deals for lift tickets at Whitefish Mountain Resort and encouraged families to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar.

"There's a great deal of interest" from Canadians wanting to travel to Montana, Metzmaker said. "There are a lot of new people in Canada with the oil sands."

A boom in production at the oil sands of Alberta, some 600 miles north of Montana, is contributing to Canada's economic growth and is, in short, making many Canadians rich.

Canada expects $100 billion to be invested in oil sands over the next decade, the Canadian government projects.

Metzmaker said her organization is contemplating more marketing in Canada.

"We did do some advertising in Lethbridge for the first time," she said. "It's planting the seed."

Whitefish Chamber of Commerce Director Sheila Bowen said an advertisement promoting Montana that was published in a Calgary newspaper drew immediate results.

"The last three weeks our requests for travel packets have tripled," Bowen said. "We know our stores are very busy."

WHITEFISH Mountain Resort found a creative way to get Canadians to the ski resort: Bundle lift tickets and sell them at Canadian Costco stores.

"It's a good idea to partner with other companies anytime we can," resort spokesman Donnie Clapp said. "They buy four tickets at a time, and we know they'll be here at least four days."

It's the second year the Whitefish resort has worked with Costco. Ticket sales in Canada have been especially brisk this ski season, Clapp said.

The resort intends to tally its number of Canadian visitors, but won't take the time to do it until the season ends.

"It's pretty obvious we've had a significant upswing in Canadian guests," Clapp said.

Whitefish Mountain had more than 7,000 skier visits on Dec. 29, just 23 fewer than the resort's all-time record day in 1994, when buses from Canada were still filling the parking lots.

Canadians still frequent the Bierstube in big numbers. They liked the watering hole so much in the early 1980s they named it the "Best Ski Bar in Canada" when a Calgary radio station ran a contest.

Gary Elliott, who leased and ran the Bierstube for 26 years, remembers when 100 Canadian buses filled the lots below the bar in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

"My absolute favorite vehicle was a Greyhound bus with a maple leaf on it," he said. "When the drinking age was 19 here and 21 in Canada, we used to get incredible numbers of Canadian college ski clubs. They came down en masse."

Elliott speculated that one of the reasons Canadians own so much property in the Flathead is because college students who had a great time here remembered the area and bought property and homes once they became established in their careers later in life.

Elliott's business, Rocky Mountain Images, which does garment printing and sells promotional items, benefits indirectly from the boom of Canadian visitors.

"We do a tremendous amount of business with Whitefish Mountain Resort," he said. "Peripherally, we benefit."

Glacier Park Inc., concessioner for Glacier National Park, is bracing for an upswing in Canadian tourism traffic, marketing and public relations manager Alicia Thompson said.

"We full well anticipate greater Canadian visitation," she said. "We've even had more Canadians at the Prince of Wales Hotel, which is located in Canada."

Historically, Canadians have contributed about 15 percent of the park's visitors. That percentage should rise, Thompson said, but projections haven't been documented.

"From spending time in Alberta and British Columbia, and attending conferences, I know Canada is anticipating Canadians traveling down here," she said.

REAL ESTATE is another thing Canadians want in the Flathead.

"We've seen a significant increase, a lot more inquiries from Lethbridge, Calgary, pretty much all over Alberta," said Doug Zignego of RE/MAX of Whitefish. "Their economy is just really good. It's just rolling right now."

Second homes are what most Canadian buyers are after.

"These guys have been trying to get into this market" for some time, Zignego observed. Now, with a strong dollar and booming economy, Canadians are buying.

Whitefish remains a popular spot for Canadian buyers, but Meadow Lake properties in Columbia Falls and even cabins in remote areas such as Essex are selling, he said.

HARD NUMBERS about the impact Canadians are having locally are difficult to come by, but the anecdotal evidence is everywhere, Kalispell Chamber of Commerce President Joe Unterreiner said.

"Some resort properties in Eureka are being bought almost totally by Canadians," Unterreiner said he has heard. "There are a significant percent of businesses here with Canadian customers."

Box stores on Kalispell's north side have been a favorite spot for Canadian visitors, he said, with stores such as Costco, Lowe's, Target and Best Buy all seeing increased Canadian traffic.

There's so much hubbub about Canadian visitation that the Kalispell Chamber will devote its March 25 luncheon to Canadian trade issues. U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., is expected to kick off a yearlong Canadian trade initiative at the March luncheon.

In August, a joint program with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will be held in Kalispell.

"It will help promote trade [with Canada] and resources available," Unterreiner said. "and encourage exploration of trade as a marketing opportunity."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com