Chicago – May 28, 2025
The bucolic, vineyard-dotted Eastern Townships region of southern Quebec has a message for Americans: come hug it out.
The region’s tourist board released a promotional video on May 26 portraying an English-speaking tourist who bashfully admits to being American — then gets a big hug from a French-speaking hotel receptionist.
It’s part of a CA$150,000 (US$109,000) ad campaign timed for the start of the summer travel season and aimed at US vacationers. Isabelle Charlebois, general director of Tourism Eastern Townships, said the video is meant to reassure American visitors that “they are not only expected this summer, but truly welcome.”
If travelers need that encouragement, perhaps it’s because amid a trade war and rising tensions some are wondering if it’s the right time to visit Canada.
“When our administration starts talking about making Canada the 51st state, I could understand if Canadian border patrol might be giving extra scrutiny to Americans,” said Brian Kirchhoff of Middlebury, Vermont.
While he still plans to visit Montreal for next month’s Canadian Grand Prix, Kirchhoff worries escalating rhetoric from the White House will have repercussions for Americans traveling abroad. “I just don’t know what attitudes are going to be as the situation continues to unfold,” he said.
