To help American visitors feel more welcome in Canada at time when relations are strained, one local tourism office is playing Canada nice.
In a 30-second spot, a tourist shown checking in at a hotel front desk tells the receptionist he doesn’t speak French and sheepishly admits, “I’m American.” For a split second, a close-up shot of the receptionist clicking a red button underneath the desk might make viewers wonder if she’s calling security, given the state of U.S.-Canada relations. But no, she’s simply opening the front desk countertop so she can go and give the man a friendly embrace. “Come hug it out in Eastern Townships” is the ad’s closing tagline.
Tourism Eastern Townships is a tourism office for a region in Quebec that’s an hour’s drive from Montreal, and the region is especially reliant on U.S. visitors since it borders Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports and calls for making Canada a state, though, haven’t been good for business.
Travel from the U.S. to Canada by automobile is down by 10.4%, according to data from Statistics Canada, the Canadian government’s statistical office, meaning the supply of U.S. visitors to the region that it once could count on for reliable day or weekend trips is drying up.
“Americans were actually, literally calling our hotels and attractions asking, ‘Am I still welcome? Are people going to be nice to us if we come? Are we going to be served in English?’” Tourism Eastern Townships director of visitor services Catherine Carignan-Lavasseur told the Canadian news network CTV News.
Those calls from Americans “sparked a red flag,” according to Carignan-Lavasseur, since U.S. tourists represent 6% of visitors to the region. The ad was meant to welcome them back. “The ad is a warm, humorous 30-second ad, but it’s also truly an invitation,” she said.
Trump’s antagonistic stance toward Canada has inspired a defensive “elbows up” response that’s shown up in Canadian consumer brand marketing and political messaging, but it goes against the stereotype of Canadians being unusually nice. While defensiveness and defiance might work well in politics, trade wars, and dealing with Trump, it’s bad for tourism, so Tourism Eastern Townships is trying an opposite approach.
For Americans considering a trip to Eastern Townships, the tourism office’s hugging ad arrives like a generous helping of warm Canadian maple syrup or a surprise Justin Bieber album at the end of a long week. While politics and borders divide us, a hug is universal. And by using an embrace to tell American tourists that they’re invited, the spot makes sure the message needs no translation. Visitors are welcome.
