Clipper ridership down amid U.S.-Canada tensions

SEATTLE — Seattle’s waterfront is buzzing with visitors as tourism picks up, but traffic across one key route, the ferry between Seattle and Victoria, B.C., is noticeably lighter.

Tensions between the United States and Canada are high, triggering a dip in tourism that’s costing local jobs and cutting back service on the longstanding ferry route.

“Historically, a huge portion of our international visitation is from Canada,” said Michael Woody, chief strategy officer for Visit Seattle.

Fewer Canadians are crossing the border, and it’s starting to show. FRS Clipper says ridership is down.

“Traffic coming out of Canada is down about 30 percent and traffic originating in the United States heading north is down 7-10 percent,” said Mark Collins, CEO of Clipper Navigation. 

In response to the downturn, the company is cutting sailings. Typically it runs roundtrip ferries 11 times per week between Seattle and Victoria, but now, they’re dropping down to seven. Starting in the fall, sailings will run Thursday through Monday.

Meanwhile, trade tensions are rising, and so is the rhetoric. President Donald Trump continues talking about making Canada the 51st state, adding fuel to a cross-border strain that’s now hitting tourism.

“We’re not seeing the visits from our Canadian friends and it’s not for anything we’ve done in Seattle, it’s for stuff happening in the other Washington,” Bob Donegan, the president of Ivar’s, said.

With fewer visitors and fewer sailings, Clipper says this downturn has impacted its workforce as well.

“It was a shock. It was a surprise because we had definitely hoped for a better year than we’re experiencing,” said Collins.

The company laid off 20 employees in Seattle and reduced hours for workers in Victoria.

“We’re very sorry to see them go and it’s certainly not what we want to do,” Collins added.

As tourism tumbled, Seattle businesses launched the “Open Arms Canada” campaign ahead of the Mariners-Blue Jays series earlier this month.

“They were just as pleased as could be that we were thinking about them and inviting them down here,” said Donegan.

Spots like Ivar’s offered 30% discounts. About 1,000 Canadians took part.

“But even with that, attendance at the ballpark was down [15,000 to 12,000] thousand people,” Donegan said.

International tourists make up just under 6% of all visitors to Seattle. Canadians account for 80% of that group.

“There’s certainly anger, there’s a lot of feelings that are very valid and you know they really want us to lean into inviting them to come, knowing the answer is probably going to be no,” said Woody.

Still, tourism and business leaders believe the dip won’t last.

“Over time these issues will go away and we’ll be back up there and they’ll be back down here,” Donegan said.

“I think it’s going to get better, and when it does, Clipper wants to be here to serve them,” Collins added.

The CEO of Clipper said travel from Seattle to Victoria is also down and says many travelers are pointing to economic uncertainty, not trade tensions. Collins said anyone with a scheduled sailing that is now cancelled can either rebook or get a full refund.