PLATTSBURGH — The rift between President Donald Trump and Canada on trade issues seems to have had no affect on the local economy.

Numbers for the year so far show a strong impact from Canadian travelers in the North Country.

“I really do think the U.S. and Canadian economy are closely intertwined up here, and we certainly look forward to that continuing,” said Clinton County Legislature Chairman Harry McManus, D-Champlain.

According to a report from the North Country Chamber of Commerce, numbers are up in many categories.

From January through May, county sales tax revenue was 6 percent above last year’s collections and up 8 percent from 2018 projections.

Passenger-car crossings at the Champlain border are up 4 percent so far this year, and May crossings had climbed 11 percent from 2017.

Occupancy tax collection is up 12 percent from last year, which was a record year.

Information center

Visitations at the I Love New York Information Center at Exit 40 of the Adirondack Northway in Beekmantown are up 98 percent, with 80 percent of those visitors from Canada.

Many of those are from Canadian buses, according to the chamber.

“The Welcome Center is experiencing its busiest year since 2013 and has welcomed almost double the number of visitors over 2017 through the end of May,” said Ron Ofner, executive director of the Adirondack Regional Tourism Council and managing entity for the ILNY Gateway Information Center at Beekmantown. “If this trend continues, our region should enjoy a very robust summer season. Anecdotally, we are not hearing any negative comments about our ‘politics’ or complaints about the exchange rate.”

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Marketing

Chamber President Garry Douglas said he is excited to see the strong numbers and that the chamber will continue its promotion of the area billed as the Adirondack Coast to the Quebec market.

“With recent news reports, we know it is more important than ever to stay focused on welcoming our Quebec and Ontario visitors and are doing so with designated marketing programs, which seem to be working, including a CTV Co-Op Campaign [on Montreal and Ottawa’s most-watched station],” Douglas said.

The chamber is also featuring Google display advertisements targeting Canadian travelers, exhibiting at consumer shows in Quebec and Ontario (Montreal Bike Show, Ottawa Travel Show and Montreal’s International Travel & Tourism Show) and is involved in Brand USA’s Eastern Canadian Co-Op Advertising Campaign with display ads on Expedia.ca and visitusa.com.

It is also targeting digital marketing featuring bilingual pictures, videos and contests and videos on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

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Bilingual website

The chamber is also maintaining and updating a bilingual website, goadirondack.com, and promoting the area in numerous travel guides and publications targeting tour groups.

“These are welcome numbers for Clinton County tourism,” said Kristy Kennedy, vice president of marketing and director of tourism at the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau and chamber, in the release. “They speak well for the marketing programs we are implementing daily and show our strong relationship with Canadian visitors. I could not be more pleased to see the strong showing and can only imagine that the rest of 2018 will surpass projections as we continue to aggressively market and promote our destination to our neighbors to the north.”

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Fishing tournaments

In addition to the marketing efforts, the region has also been bolstered by popular bass fishing tournaments on Lake Champlain. The region, in conjunction with the city of Plattsburgh, has hosted three large tournaments so far this season with more to come.

Last weekend, the FLW Costa Series tournament saw a record 205 boats and more than 400 anglers. Weighed during the three-day tourney was a total 10,600 pounds of bass.

Other tournaments scheduled for this summer include the Northern Bass Open on July 21, the Bassmaster Eastern Open Aug. 2 to 4 and the ABA Open Series on Aug. 18.

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Very optimistic

McManus said he hopes the county and region can continue to benefit from Canadian visitors.

“I think many Canadians see the value in their visits here, and the numbers show it,” he said.

“We are very optimistic about the future, and when you have these kinds of numbers, it gives you options.”