WHITEFISH, Mont. — A chairlift cranks into gear as ski patrollers at Whitefish Mountain Resort prepare for the season, running evacuation drills even though few are in boots or on skis. Despite late-November training, there was no snow at the base and many slopes were brown, underscoring broader anxiety in the resort tourism industry.
Resorts across the West delayed openings around Thanksgiving because of low snowfall and warm weather that prevented artificial snowmaking. Snow fell later this week in the Rockies and Pacific Northwest, including Whitefish, but operators worry about more than weather: they’re bracing for a continued drop in international guests tied to President Trump’s tariffs and negative rhetoric about other countries.
Whitefish Mountain Resort, known locally as Big Mountain, historically draws about a quarter of its business from Canada. “We think of Canadians as our neighbors,” says Zak Anderson, executive director of Explore Whitefish, the local resort chamber. Montana tourism officials have tracked roughly a 25% drop in Canadian visitors since the administration imposed steep tariffs and made provocative comments about Canada. Canadian credit card spending in Whitefish’s boutiques, restaurants and hotels is down about 12%, a noticeable hit for a town of fewer than 10,000 people.
“We don’t have a say in national politics,” Anderson says, adding that the local message is simple: “We’re here — we’re open for business.”
The concern reaches far beyond Montana. The U.S. Travel Association projects about 5 million fewer international visitors to the United States this year. Longwoods International, a tourism market research firm, reports that many Canadians cite U.S. politics — including tariffs and rhetoric — as reasons for canceling trips, alongside a weak Canadian dollar. “You had many Canadian travelers that were already on the fence from their own financial perspective and then they’re going to feel insulted or hurt,” says Amir Eylon, president and CEO of Longwoods. That combination makes it easier for Canadians to skip U.S. trips.
Small, tourism-dependent towns have launched campaigns to entice Canadians back. Kalispell, near Whitefish and Glacier National Park, is running a “Welcome Back Canada” initiative; hotels there, including the century-old Kalispell Grand Hotel, are offering discounts. General Manager Mitchell Bump says hotel managers focus on filling rooms, not politics. Flathead County, where Kalispell sits, voted heavily for Trump, but business leaders are pushing discounts like 20% off rooms to regain Canadian visitors.
Back at Whitefish, uncertainty is pervasive. The resort is coming off its second-busiest season on record, and some busy weekends fell before tariffs were announced. Christmas week bookings look solid locally, and a spike in domestic tourists plus Montana’s population growth since the pandemic have buffered losses. Still, domestic guests are booking later, making planning difficult.
“There’s so much uncertainty — it’s hard to know what’s going to happen,” Anderson says. “The political winds seem to be shifting on an hourly basis.”