{"id":158720,"date":"2026-08-06T22:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/158720\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T22:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:12:15","slug":"lakes-region-businesses-say-canadian-tourists-gradually-returning-to-nh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/158720\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakes Region businesses say Canadian tourists gradually returning to NH"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian tourism slowly returns to New Hampshire after difficult 2025<\/p>\n

\"Jon<\/a>MEREDITH, N.H. \u2014<\/p>\n

Canadian visitors are making a gradual return to the Granite State, marking a reversal of the tourism slump from across the northern border.<\/p>\n

The state’s tourism industry took a major hit in 2025, driven largely by a steep drop in visitors from Canada. This summer, businesses in the Lakes Region and beyond are reporting early signs of improvement.<\/p>\n

Tourism is New Hampshire’s second-largest industry, supporting about 70,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

State economic officials say the tourism industry is flat across the state so far this year compared to a year ago. They point to upticks on the west side of the state and in the Portsmouth area as the biggest signs of progress.<\/p>\n

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According to the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, the decline in tourism from the north has narrowed to roughly 5%, compared to a much wider gap the year prior.<\/p>\n

“We had a lot of struggles with that,” said Lucy Lange, commissioner of the department. “I believe that it was Hampton that really came out with a 30% dip.”<\/p>\n

Economists and a Joint Economic Committee report point to tariffs and political pressure from the Trump administration as the biggest factors. Strained relations with Canada also kept travelers from making typical trips to the U.S.<\/p>\n

Campgrounds also saw Canadian reservations drop by nearly two-thirds in 2025 compared to previous years.<\/p>\n

Officials say the state is now actively working to bring those visitors back.<\/p>\n

“I would love to see that 5% become a plus 5%, but I don’t think that’s going to be this year,” Lange said. “We welcome them with open arms when they’re ready.”<\/p>\n

Mill Falls Resort Collection includes four boutique hotels on Lake Winnipesaukee in Meredith. General manager Lloyd Van Horn says the recovery is already visible at his properties, crediting strong wedding bookings and better weather than last summer.<\/p>\n

“We’re up this year. We’ve got solid wedding business,” Van Horn said. “Sometimes the weddings are a year behind. So if you had a bad year last year when people were making a decision, it’s coming up.”<\/p>\n

Van Horn, who has spent years in boutique hospitality across the country, says the region’s pull is hard to copy.<\/p>\n

“It’s lake life. It’s boating. It’s barbecues by a beach, or going to a sandbar,” he said.<\/p>\n

Van Horn also says he has noticed more Quebec license plates in parking lots this year than last.<\/p>\n

For Van Horn, drawing visitors back after a slump comes down to the experience a property offers that will motivate guests to return.<\/p>\n

“It’s really important for us to just pay attention to what does make money, and getting the whole story right is important, because we’re in the entertainment business,” he said. “We’re not just in a hotel.”<\/p>\n

Not every corner of the state’s tourism economy has bounced back. Organizers of Laconia Motorcycle Week say the 103rd running of the event drew as much as 25% fewer visitors this year. They point to high gas prices and a continued drop in Canadian tourists as key factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canadian tourism slowly returns to New Hampshire after difficult 2025 MEREDITH, N.H. \u2014 Canadian visitors are making a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51027,9019,17,8690,6868,51031,51029,51023,51026,51024,51028,51025,51030,8404,3780,51032,6685,1649],"class_list":["post-158720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-dip","tag-business-owner","tag-canada","tag-canadian-tourism","tag-canadian-tourist","tag-economist","tag-lake-life","tag-lakes-region","tag-lakes-region-business","tag-lloyd-van-horn","tag-lucy-lange","tag-mill-falls-resort-collection","tag-modest-improvement","tag-new-hampshire","tag-people","tag-thousand","tag-tourism","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}