Dan Falloon
Even though the Canadian dollar is flirting with parity with the U.S. greenback, area hunting and fishing lodge operators are heading off the surging loonie.
Ross’ Camp and Camp Narrows Lodge both charge in U.S. funds so while any fluctuations with the dollar affect their bottom lines, guests aren’t immediately impacted.
“What it is is I take the hit, I guess,” said Tom Pearson of Camp Narrows Lodge.
“I’m having some of the best years I’ve ever had, but I think that’s just me,” he added. “Some people are doing very well and some people are really struggling.
“For me, the exchange rate doesn’t really affect me too much,” Pearson noted. “It affects my bottom line, but it doesn’t affect them [tourists] deciding if they’re coming to me.”
Pearson, who raised his rates over the winter in an attempt to adjust to the exchange rate, noted the lodges that are doing well tend to be doing so based on merit, as the bulk of his bookings are return customers.
“I don’t really have new people coming, I just depend mostly on my regulars,” he remarked.
“They’re coming no matter what.”
From talking with other operators, Pearson discovered the sentiment to retain customers was widespread.
“Most people I know they’re relying on their regular guests,” he said. “We just do everything to keep our regular guests because there’s really not that many people to fill those spots if they don’t come back.
“So I think that’s just what everyone’s doing.”
Wayne Howard of Ross’ Camp agreed the marketing aspect was business as usual, but admitted financial operations would be watched over with a hawk’s eye.
“We do the shows we normally do. We have our regular clients,” he said. “You just change how you spend your money and watch expenses a lot more closely.”
Both felt the recession has been more of an issue than the rising loonie since leisure activities often are among the first cuts when families tighten their belts.
“It’s the lack of jobs,” said Howard. “There’s not as much disposable income.”
While Howard is getting set for a slow rebound in the U.S., Pearson is hopeful the recovery will occur more quickly.
“Everything looks like it’s starting to stabilize in the States, so hopefully we have a little turnaround and everything starts getting a little better up here,” he reasoned.
Pearson noted he had some new inquiries from November through February. And while the phone has been quiet since, he expects it to start ringing again before long.
“All of a sudden, there’s going to be a whole bunch of people. Last-minute calls are going to be a big thing,” he stressed.
“They’ll call and say, ‘Do you have room in a couple weeks?’ because they realize that they might have enough money to make it.
“A lot of them leave it to the last minute because they don’t know what’s going to happen,” Pearson added.
“They don’t want to book five months in advance and then lose their job.”
But if the American tourists don’t return in numbers, Howard doesn’t see Canadians filling the void.
“[Canadians tourists are] having as much trouble as U.S. ones, a lot of them are,” he remarked. “We don’t market a lot to the Canadian tourists.
“We’ve tried it. It doesn’t work for our location, I guess.
“More of them tend to favour going to resorts that are closer to towns, like the Kenora area, Sioux Narrows area,” Howard noted.
But Pearson said while his customers are “99 percent American,” there is growing buzz among Canadians.
“I’m starting to get more interest from Canadians, but everyone who lives around here lives around here,” he explained. “They’re not going to pay what we charge, what Wayne or I charge, to go to a resort here.
“We’re going to maybe get some people from Winnipeg, or Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Toronto.”
However, there are some challenges associated with attracting home-grown tourists.
Pearson felt he could attract more guests from Toronto if the cost of airfare were less expensive given the drive is too far to make for many.
“There are lots of people in Toronto that would probably love to come up here for fishing,” he remarked. “The problem is the prices are just crazy to travel, and it’s the distance.
“It’s a 24-hour drive,” he continued. “You’ve got two days each way, so that’s four days.
“That makes a week turn into 11 days, or it makes a week turn into a three- or four-day fishing trip if they’re coming all the way up here.”
However, if tourists are going to book a fishing getaway, Pearson likes the odds of them choosing Rainy Lake.
“The fishing’s getting better and better,” he enthused. “There are a lot of people talking about it.”
