'We miss you': Montana city launches campaign to woo back Canadian visitors

Bill Graveland · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 3:00 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

One of Montana's main question destinations is reaching retired to Canadians, offering deals, discounts and specials successful an effort to lure them backmost for a visit.

Discover Kalispell, a tourism selling and absorption enactment for the metropolis successful northwest Montana, has unveiled its Kalispell Canadian Welcome Pass.

Kalispell is adjacent the Canada-U.S. border, astir 5 hours southbound of Calgary.

"The connection is simple: we spot you and we miss you," said Diane Medler, enforcement manager for Discover Kalispell.

WATCH | How Kalispell, Mont., is trying to entice visitors from Canada:

The Canadian Welcome Pass includes 15 businesses and a premix of deals connected lodging, retail, eating and museums.

Canadian tourism to the United States has plummeted, mostly owed to the debased Canadian dollar and the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, his comments astir making Canada the 51st authorities and the ongoing commercialized war.

Popular destinations specified arsenic Las Vegas and California person complained astir a driblet successful tourism.

Medler said her enactment has collected information showing borderline crossings person dropped betwixt 15 and 25 per cent, and recognition paper spending from planetary visitors is down by 39 per cent.

She said tourism is the biggest manufacture successful northwestern Montana and it's hurting section business.

"We recognize and wholly respect there's been immoderate beardown feelings implicit the past galore months astir decisions made astatine the national level, and we respect those feelings and opinions," said Medler.

"To us, it's astir radical and that quality connection, and we conscionable felt it was clip to fto our Canadian neighbour cognize that contempt what's going on, we'd emotion to person them back."

Americans reaching retired crossed Canada

McKenzie McMillan, a question advisor with the Vancouver-based Travel Group, said the Kalispell run isn't breaking caller ground.

"Here successful Vancouver we've been seeing rather an extended outreach from Seattle and King County, and past besides from cardinal and eastbound Washington, particularly the vino regions successful eastbound Washington, with a propulsion to get Canadians to travel backmost down," helium said.

"They're utilizing the aforesaid benignant of techniques that Kalispell is utilizing present and offering heavy discounts, Canadian at-par rates, benignant of tongue-in-cheek advertisement campaigns to effort and triumph Canadians favour back."

But, McMillan noted, "from what we've seen it hasn't truly moved the needle rather yet."

He said the advertisement campaigns don't code wherefore Canadians are looking elsewhere.

WATCH | Canadians person been changing abrogation plans each year:

"A batch of these tourism boards either are missing the constituent oregon don't privation to code the point, fixed that galore of these tourism boards are authorities funded," helium said.

"They're truly not addressing the constituent that Canadians are aggravated astir the comments from the U.S. medication erstwhile it comes to 51st state; they're aggravated implicit continued tariff conversations that look to beryllium punitive."

McMillan said a societal media run earlier this twelvemonth by California's politician has seen immoderate success.

Gov. Gavin Newsom urged the two-million Canadians who visited past twelvemonth to look past the president and instrumentality to bask the Golden State's wine, prima and surf.

McMillan said the run "did crook heads and astir apt made much of an interaction than immoderate of the different campaigns I've seen."

"While possibly not capable to determination the needle oregon bring Canadians backmost successful droves, I decidedly saw immoderate clients and friends consciousness much relaxed astir visiting the Golden State."

The CEO of Tourism Lethbridge, an hr from Montana successful Alberta, said the country has seen an summation successful visitors astatine its accusation centre, including galore from the United States.

"While I recognize Kalispell is focused connected attracting Canadian travellers, our efforts are aimed astatine some home and planetary visitors, including those from the U.S.," said Erin Crane.