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 Travel & Outdoors | November 2007 
Loonie Takes Flight As Sun Seekers Fly South
 Cary Castagna - The Edmonton Sun
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 |  | It appears fewer foreign tourists are opting for Canada's three major destinations - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - due to the higher dollar.
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Propelled by the leaping loonie, northern Albertans are expected to flock south for the winter like never before.
The Edmonton International Airport is bracing for a record number of travellers headed for warmer climes in the next several months.
"We do expect that Canadians will be travelling more this year as a result of the higher dollar," said Edmonton Airports spokesman Jim Rudolph. "As far as we can tell, it's a record year."
And sun seekers looking to escape winter's icy grip won't just be heading to places like California, Arizona and Florida, Rudolph said, pointing out that the loonie is also stronger against other foreign currency such as the yen, pound sterling and peso.
Last week, the airport announced it will be offering a record 26 flights per week to 10 non-stop "sun destinations" from now until April.
"We're proud to offer more non-stop sun destinations than ever before - no more layovers, no tight connections and no costly, long drives to Calgary," said Peter McCart, vice-president of marketing for Edmonton Airports.
That includes eight weekly direct flights to Cancun, five to Puerto Vallarta and four to Varadero. Non-stop flights will also head to Cabo San Lucas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Montego Bay, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.
The move to offer more non-stop flights to hotspots was sparked by Alberta's booming economy.
"Having that high Canadian dollar will likely ensure those flights will be packed," Rudolph explained.
It adds up to a 40% increase over last year - from about 175,000 winter vacationers to more than 250,000, according to airport stats.
Indeed, the travel industry will be one of the big winners in the loonie sweepstakes, said Paul McElhone, associate director of the School of Retailing with the University of Alberta's School of Business.
But while some consumers are warming up to the idea of a strong Canadian dollar, others are still grumbling over the fact that many products remain cheaper south of the border.
One retail giant, IKEA Canada, said while it's locked into higher interest rates for up to a year and as much as an 18-month supply cycle in some cases, it's trying to meet customers' expectations.
"Most recently, we lowered prices on 1,000 products," spokesman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick told Sun Media. "About 20% of our bestselling items are on par (with the U.S.) or cheaper here in Canada. So it goes both ways."
The U of A's McElhone agreed that it takes time for the market to level out.
He suggested consumers also look at the sharp contrasts between Canada - fuelled by a red-hot economy in the West - and the U.S. - saddled with a sliding economy and slumping housing market.
"Our duty structure is different. The cost of wages is much higher in Canada," he explained. "We're a small population in a large country. Transportation costs and distribution channels are much more expensive when moving things around Canada.
"We don't have the debt of a war that has become unpopular. All of those things have an impact on the bigger picture."
And of course, a soaring loonie is bad news for Canadian exports and local tourism.
"We're a manufacturing country that relies on the States to buy our goods. Canadian commodities are most attractive when our dollar is low," McElhone said, adding that it appears fewer foreign tourists are opting for Canada's three major destinations - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - due to the higher dollar. |
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