Fort Erie’s tourism sector braces for summer of uncertainty

Hardened by the tumultuous tourism seasons amid the pandemic, Fort Erie businesses are ready to face yet another summer of uncertainty.

“It’s certainly going to be interesting,” said Robin Bannerman, proprietress of Crystal Ball Cafe, when asked about heading into the busy summer tourism season in Crystal Beach amid the ongoing tensions between Canada and America.

“It might be a bit tough, but you know what, if we survived COVID, we’ll survive tariffs,” she added.

Fort Erie is uniquely positioned to be on the frontlines of many awkward conversations this summer, as the town has the highest percentage of foreign-owned homes of anywhere in the province.

With large swaths of the Lake Erie waterfront owned by seasonal cottagers, 9 per cent of all residential properties in Fort Erie are owned by Americans; more than double the next highest concentration of foreign-owned residences, 3.9 per cent in Toronto.

American tourists also make up a healthy chunk of the visitors to Crystal Beach each season, and it remains to be seen what impact the ongoing trade war and heightened tensions between the two countries will have on the town’s summer tourism season.

For her part, Bannerman thinks that despite the unpleasantness, Americans won’t be able to resist the lure of visiting Crystal Beach, thanks to one key factor.

“With the Canadian dollar hovering around the 65 cent ($USD) marker, the Americans would be crazy not to come over this summer,” said Bannerman, who is also chair of the Crystal Beach BIA.

“I tend to think that tourism is tourism and politics doesn’t really play into things when Americans are looking to plan out their summer,” she said.

With new attractions like the revamped Crystal Beach Farmers Market–which will run on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. between May 18 and October 12–Bannerman said there are enough interesting and unique tourism activities this summer to keep American tourists busy and looking beyond the trade war.

Bannerman and other members of Fort Erie’s tourism sector gathered at Old Fort Erie this week to exchange ideas and chat about the upcoming summer tourism season, an initiative organized by Niagara’s South Coast, a destination marketing organization for Fort Erie, Pelham, Port Colborne, and Wainfleet.

Caralee Grumett, manager of the town’s economic development and tourism services, was also in attendance for the Niagara South Coast event.

She said it was a great chance to meet some of the local businesses that she’s been coordinating with recently for the town’s annual summer visitor’s guide, which is being distributed soon across the country.

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