I put out the following post to the businesses via facebook.
“I was on a Destination Northern Ontario tourism call today and was surprised to hear some businesses saying they are getting calls from their US tourists asking if it is going to be safe to come again this year. How sad that they would not feel safe here in this welcoming place. Perception is reality so lets take this concern seriously and be sure that we put out a positive message to our American friends, neighbours and tourist alike that we are a great place to come.
#americantouristsarewelcome “
I rarely use Facebook except to announce events, as Facebook to me is just a place for people to be mean, a place for inaccurate information and conspiracy theory to grow and hatred to fester, but I know a lot of the business people are linked into it. Unfortunately my attempt to identify a potential tourism issue and promote Manitoulin Island to American Tourists by informing local Manitoulin Businesses not to alienate our key tourism market when Canadians are not mad at Americans, we are mad a ONE AMERICAN; And in 1,394 days (from the writing of this post), this too shall pass (assuming the US Administration does not convince the Americans to throw away their current democratic processes for a maximum 8 year term of office).
My attempt to let the Manitoulin Island residents and businesses know that our US tourists are now questioning their safety here if they come, is something to take seriously, perception is reality and businesses need to be aware of that in their advertising and promotion for the 2025 tourist season. Although my message started out being well accepted as intended and was appreciated by our long time American tourists, it only took just one person to turn it political and take it down a dark path. How unfortunate that we cannot for the sake of our American friends, neighbours and tourists alike take the high road and not become involved in the mean and unnecessary rhetoric. We are Canada, we are not the United States, and the American President has done us a favour in some way; by doing what he is doing, he is bringing Canadians together like never before. Canada will make changes going forward that will never again tie us so stringently to the United States. However now is not the time for political rhetoric when it comes to tourism. The US residents are Canada’s largest inbound tourism market, the US traveler is a high value and important market for Northern Ontario and Manitoulin Island. Americans are key to the ongoing success of Manitoulin Island tourism, tourism is a key element to 80% of the businesses here on Manitoulin Island, so be welcoming and supportive. Leave the politics out of tourism, tourists, regardless of who they choose to support in the United States as their government (and like us here in Canada we too have the right to choose), are people who deserve to feel safe in Canada. Seeing negative rhetoric is not harming the US residents, you are harming the small businesses here on Manitoulin Island who depend on that tourism business. Those who hold political views are welcome to have them but voicing them in spaces where it will be detrimental to the small business up the road that provides them with products/services they need; that now has to close because their rhetoric caused tourists not to come, was the need to put your thoughts down in writing worth it? We are better than this, we are Canadian! Be elbows up and support/buy Canadian but we also need to be arms wide open to American tourists.
All this to say, tourists are important, so don’t bite the hand that feeds many a Manitoulin Island business. The US Administration is doing it’s best to make our economy suffer, we do not need to add to that, we need to look for ways to counteract that and being mean to potential tourists that support the small businesses here on Manitoulin Island is not the way to go.