O Canada—where are you?
This past April, just seven Canadians stopped in at the La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center on Morris Street.
“Typically that would have been in the hundreds,” said Chamber Director Mark Hulst. “Foreign travelers were also way off, with just four.”
“Canadian travel was down significantly this year from 2024 between The La Conner Inn and Channel Lodge,” said owner Katie Hayton. “One hotel was down 95% and the other 70% in Canadian overnight stays.”
Fortunately, overall occupancy was up 1.52% over April 2024, thanks to guests within a 60 to 90-mile radius of La Conner.
“I know some businesses have had their best years yet, given the mostly beautiful sunny weather we had throughout spring,” said Nicole Roozen, executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. She’s particularly pleased that the La Conner Tulip parade, with 50 floats that took 45 minutes to view, was the longest in festival history.
Roozen is still crunching numbers, but she agrees that the absence of Canadian and international travelers has significant ramifications for the local economy.
Kiwanis sells fewer meals, seeks buyers for extra salmon
The Kiwanis Salmon Barbeque sold 800 meals less than expected during their annual fundraiser.
“I don’t blame Canada at all,” said Diane Fox, barbeque chair and treasurer of the Mount Vernon Rotary Club. “Fortunately, locals really stepped up, coming twice or putting an extra $20 in the tip jar, but I’m sad because it’s our main fundraiser.”
Using its spreadsheet of diners and dates, the club puts together its annual salmon order in late fall. The order was confirmed in January, before the new administration was sworn in.
If you’d like to buy some extra salmon from the Mount Vernon Rotary, Fox has dozens of 25-lb bags of coho for sale for $250 each.
“Anything to help sell a few filets,” Fox said.“The fish was really good this year.”
Call All About Hearing in Burlington at (360) 707-5500 for details.
Lighter congestion, lower revenues
On the flats, traffic seemed lighter. Hulst’s daily trips between Mount Vernon and La Conner took only five to 10 extra minutes, compared to 45-minute delays of previous years.
Nina Foster, who lives on Beaver Marsh Road, was glad that no mile-long backups from Roozengaarde affected her family, but said sheriffs are still needed because “the number of cars going at least 50 mph by our place and accelerating was huge.”
At Skagit Cellars, owned by Hulst, “we had a good month, don’t get me wrong,” he said, “but we were down 20%.”
“We knew in March that whether we had a good or a bad year, we would be down without Canadians,” said Brent Roozen of the Roozengaarde Display Garden. “We definitely expected it, and didn’t spend any marketing dollars there.”
Tulip Valley Farms didn’t market in Canada, either. Owner Andrew Miller says more than half of this year’s visitors were first-timers from the U.S., although about 60 family members of the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, Military Family Services division enjoyed a day in the fields. These liaisons between Canadian and U.S. forces are stationed at Joint Base Fort Lewis-McChord.
Tulip stands thrive even without Canadian crowds
Even without Canadians, La Conner Rotary grossed more than $40,000 from its two roadside tulip stands and direct sales to downtown businesses. The money supports its scholarships and local and international service projects.
Rotarian Ollie Iverson says it takes a village to make those sales happen. Local farmers Dave Hedlin and John Thulen each host a stand on their property, and Thulen stores flowers in his cooler. Several dozen people cover two shifts seven days weekly for a month, and when April ends, the stands go back into storage at the Lefeber Turf Farm on Memorial Highway.
“People are so gracious,” he said. “The community is so good to us.”
Tricky conversations ahead
In April, BC Living Magazine ran a feature on four tulip festivals an easy drive from Vancouver. Skagit County didn’t make the list—but tulip farms in Abbotsford, Agassiz, and Harrison Hot Springs BC did.
“Farms that have never done tulips before are getting into tulips,” Miller said. “Long term, as these festivals grow, will we be able to recapture some of that? Or will Canadians go with homegrown tulips on their side of the border?”
Brent Roozen isn’t worried. “Everyone is trying to do a tulip festival now, but outside of Holland, we are the best one.”
The Canadian farms raise about 35 acres of tulips. The Roozens alone plant 180 acres. Add in Tulip Town, Tulip Valley Farms, Skagit Acres and Garden Rosalyn, and the hometown tulip festival offers larger fields with more color and variety.
Kristen Keltz of the Skagit Tourism Bureau and directors of all the state’s Destination Management Organizations (DMO) are pondering exactly what to say to Canadians offended by President Trump’s suggestion that their country become the 51st state.
Keltz says DMOs are developing a unified message that welcomes without being insensitive. “We want to let Canadians know that we’re still here, we welcome you, and we’d love to have you come.”
Iverson and other Rotarians plan to deliver that message personally. La Conner Rotary belongs to the Rotary District 5050, which extends from Everett to the town of Hope in southern British Columbia.
“Canadians are our buddies, our peeps,” said Iverson. “No one had any idea when this district was set up that we would have this kind of situation on our hands.”
On May 22, about 10 La Conner Rotarians will meet their peeps in White Rock.
“We’re just going to go and say hello to our sister city, meet with fellow Rotarians and give them high fives. They are good people!” Iverson said.
Anne Basye is a freelance writer based in greater La Conner.
