Two weeks from now is Canada Day, a holiday that often brings Canadian visitors into Vermont and New York to our state parks.After years of slower cross-border travel, new federal data shows some traffic is starting to rebound even if it hasn’t fully returned to normal.State parks like this one rely heavily on tourists. Officials say they are now starting to see a spike in these visitors once again. Now state park leaders say visits from Canada are trending back up even if they’re still below where they used to be.“We’re up about 11% in Canadian visits over last year. Of course, last year we were way down significantly. So we’re still not at our normal level, but we’re trending up,” said Nate McKeen, State Parks Director for the State of Vermont.At the Sand Bar in Milton, they say they have seen some visitors so far this year, but would like to see more.“I would love to see more of them back here. It’s good they’re not that far away. It’s a hop, skip, and a jump for a day and for their families to kind of come down and explore a lot of the parks here in Vermont. I would love to see that increase,” said Erica Guralnik, Assistant Manager at Sand Bar State Park.New data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows cross-border travel has been slowly recovering with peak travel months typically happening during the summer season.But officials said it’s still early in the season, and it can be difficult to tell exactly how strong this summer will be.“ much more positive direction right now, going into the spring and even starting to tick up into the summer. Then we were last year, we’re seeing numbers going up for border crossings,” said Kristy Kennedy, North Country Chamber of Commerce.Many locals hope that momentum continues through the busy summer season.“I think State parks are just important to the state anyways so anyone we can get to come here to enjoy the beautiful things we have to offer at our state parks,” said Catherine Schoonejongen, Georgia Resident. While Canadian visits have not yet returned to their previous levels… park leaders say they are encouraged by the early signs of growth and hope both visitors and locals to take advantage of their nearest state park.Park officials say they will be watching closely to see whether this summer’s uptick continues through the rest of the season.
Two weeks from now is Canada Day, a holiday that often brings Canadian visitors into Vermont and New York to our state parks.
After years of slower cross-border travel, new federal data shows some traffic is starting to rebound even if it hasn’t fully returned to normal.
State parks like this one rely heavily on tourists. Officials say they are now starting to see a spike in these visitors once again. Now state park leaders say visits from Canada are trending back up even if they’re still below where they used to be.
“We’re up about 11% in Canadian visits over last year. Of course, last year we were way down significantly. So we’re still not at our normal level, but we’re trending up,” said Nate McKeen, State Parks Director for the State of Vermont.
At the Sand Bar in Milton, they say they have seen some visitors so far this year, but would like to see more.
“I would love to see more of them back here. It’s good they’re not that far away. It’s a hop, skip, and a jump for a day and for their families to kind of come down and explore a lot of the parks here in Vermont. I would love to see that increase,” said Erica Guralnik, Assistant Manager at Sand Bar State Park.
New data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows cross-border travel has been slowly recovering with peak travel months typically happening during the summer season.
But officials said it’s still early in the season, and it can be difficult to tell exactly how strong this summer will be.
“[It’s in a] much more positive direction right now, going into the spring and even starting to tick up into the summer. Then we were last year, we’re seeing numbers going up for border crossings,” said Kristy Kennedy, North Country Chamber of Commerce.
Many locals hope that momentum continues through the busy summer season.
“I think State parks are just important to the state anyways so anyone we can get to come here to enjoy the beautiful things we have to offer at our state parks,” said Catherine Schoonejongen, Georgia Resident.
While Canadian visits have not yet returned to their previous levels… park leaders say they are encouraged by the early signs of growth and hope both visitors and locals to take advantage of their nearest state park.
Park officials say they will be watching closely to see whether this summer’s uptick continues through the rest of the season.