Overall Canadian-to-U.S. travel drops; TPA, SRQ see boosts in Canadian flights
MANATEE -- The loonie's value -- at about 70 cents on the dollar -- may be keeping some Canadians home, but those hitting the road are heading straight for Florida's Gulf Coast and to Bradenton and Sarasota in particular.
Last week, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport received news of a third flight added from WestJet, one of its Canadian carriers, to meet increasing demand. WestJet began its seasonal Canadian service with SRQ last year with two weekly flights.
"Just last week WestJet reported it carried a record number of passengers in January and they were up 7.4 percent with same month a year earlier," said Mark Stuckey, vice president of special projects and development.
Canadian flights are 5 percent less expensive than last year at this time, Stuckey said, because of a variety of factors.
A drop in jet fuel prices, higher competition between Canadian airlines and what Stuckey calls "reverse leakage" are causing Canadian airline ticket prices to drop and boosting plane occupancies.
"Last year you were seeing a lot of Canadians cross the border to catch cheaper flights," Stuckey said. "That's changed. Now you're seeing a reverse flow. U.S. residents are going to large airports like Toronto and flying out and because the U.S. dollar is so much stronger than the loonie (Canadian dollar) and they can get better prices on tickets."
Tampa International Airport has also seen positive numbers from Canadian travel recently, according to Janet Zink, assistant vice president of media and government relations for TPA.
"December and January traffic increased 21.5 percent and 45.7 percent, respectively, with the load factor at 76.5 percent and 75.5 percent for December and January each," Zink said in an email.
Plenty of people drive to the area in recreational vehicles or car. A Canadian flag is even flying over a section of Colony Cove.
Lisa Simone, owner and manager at Timberlane RV Park and Resort, said she has two spots occupied by Canadians, and has seen more.
"It just depends on the month," Simone said.
Many Canadians are repeat customers who visited the park in February last year.
For the past two months, the loonie's value has hovered around 70 cents on $1, according to Bank of Canada data.
According to U.S. Commerce Department data, Canadian tourist arrivals into the United States between 2014 and 2015 dropped 6 percent from 10.9 million to 10.3 million.
Canada still topped the Commerce Department's list of top 20 tourist-generating countries with Mexico following closely behind.
Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter@jayohday.
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Overall Canadian-to-U.S. travel drops; TPA, SRQ see boosts in Canadian flights ."