More Canadians Venture South Despite Dismal Exchange Rates

Snapping a few photos on the boardwalk of Lake Coeur d’Alene, Robert Boyko of Edmonton, Alberta, reveals the true reason he, his wife and three kids spent their first night here.

“Shopping,” he said and smiled. “The kids didn’t want to do the lake stuff. They wanted to go shopping.”

Despite having one of the biggest malls in the world just a few minutes drive from his home, Boyko said the selection of goods in the Inland Northwest makes it worth the drive.

Even a poor exchange rate, which has erased much of the price advantage to shopping in the United States, doesn’t discourage Boyko.

“We shopped at NorthTown in Spokane and now we’re looking at Silver Lake Mall,” he said. “The prices really aren’t too bad - it sort of evens out.”

Other Canadians seem to share that opinion, perhaps having grown use to the almost 40 percent discount Canadian money is exchanged at south of the border.

“I think they’re sort of resigned to the fact that the rate is going to stay that way,” said John Kozma of the Coeur d’Alene Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We’re seeing more of them this year than last.”

Kozma and others sense that the Canadians are coming back after a significant drop-off the past two years. But they are spending their money a little differently.

“They’ll look for the bargains on lodging and food,” Kozma said. “They’re just spending a little smarter to make the difference.”

Ron Sawyer’s Surrey Cycle rental business next to the Coeur d’Alene Visitors Center has seen the usual number of international customers - about 15 percent of his business.

But, where those visitors used to be almost exclusively from Canada, they’re more diversified now.

“Seen a few more from Calgary,” Sawyer said. “But I’m also getting a lot more Japanese, Chinese and Taiwanese groups here.

“It’s not like it used to be with the Canadians.”

But, as more travelers from around the globe find Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, tourism-oriented businesses will never ignore their longtime friends to the north.

Canadians still make up a good portion of the business at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls, according to track officials.

And Silverwood Theme Park in Athol takes Canadian money at 25 percent of U.S. instead of the current exchange rate of about 35 percent. Marketing Director David Palmer said it doesn’t pay to abandon any market segment over the long haul.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo