WHITEFISH, Mont. — A chairlift cranks into gear as ski patrollers at Whitefish Mountain Resort prepare the mountain for another season. The preseason safety training is typical, but much else is not: despite late November timing, no one is in boots or on skis, and the slopes at the base lodge are brown. Low snowfall and warm weather have delayed openings across Western resorts and limited snowmaking, adding to industry anxiety.
“If we don’t have snow, that’s going to dictate how our season goes,” says resort spokesman Chad Sokol. The recent storms brought snow to the Rockies and Pacific Northwest, including Whitefish, but resorts are also bracing for a potential drop in international guests tied to President Trump’s tariffs and anti-foreign rhetoric.
Whitefish, known locally as Big Mountain and about 60 miles from the Canadian border, has historically drawn roughly a quarter of its business from Canada. “We think of Canadians as our neighbors,” says Zak Anderson, executive director of Explore Whitefish. Montana tourism officials say Canadian visitors have fallen about 25% since Washington imposed steep tariffs and the president made inflammatory comments about Canada. Local businesses have noticed: Canadian credit-card spending is down about 12% in Whitefish’s boutiques, restaurants and hotels.
The concern isn’t limited to Montana. The U.S. Travel Association projects about 5 million fewer international visitors to the United States this year. Longwoods International, a tourism research firm led by Amir Eylon, surveys Canadians monthly and finds many citing U.S. politics — including tariffs and rhetoric — as reasons to cancel trips. Nearly half also point to a weak Canadian dollar. “Many Canadian travelers were already on the fence financially and then they feel insulted or hurt,” Eylon says, making it easier for them to skip the U.S. this year.
Small, tourism-dependent towns are launching campaigns to lure Canadians back. Kalispell, near Whitefish and Glacier National Park, offers discounts through a “Welcome Back Canada” initiative; hotels there, including the century-old Kalispell Grand Hotel, are participating. “I’m a hotel manager, so, like, not really a politician. Our job is to take care of guests and keep rooms filled,” says General Manager Mitchell Bump. Flathead County, where Kalispell sits, voted about 65% for Trump in the last election, but local leaders are worried about the economic fallout from strained cross-border relations.
Back in Whitefish, officials say it’s unclear how many Canadians will arrive this winter. The resort just finished its second-busiest season on record, but the tariffs were imposed after several peak weekends, limiting immediate impact on prior revenue. Christmas week often makes or breaks a season, and local bookings for the holidays currently look solid.
Anderson says the drop in Canadian business has so far been offset by a rise in domestic visitors and Montana’s population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, domestic tourists are increasingly booking at the last minute, complicating planning. “There’s so much uncertainty — it’s hard to know what’s going to happen,” he says. “The political winds seem to be shifting on an hourly basis.”