An increase in the value of the Canadian dollar, from a low of 63 cents just a year ago, is bringing more Canadian visitors back to northwestern Montana. While the Canadian dollar, or loonie, in mid-September still only bought 75 cents of U.S. goods, that rate is raising visitors' purchasing power to the point where businesses in the Kalispell area are seeing more Canadians than they have over the past few years.
The Flathead Convention and Visitor Bureau reported that some of its members saw, on average, about 5 percent more Canadian visitors in late summer, still not comparable to the late 1980s, when visitors from Alberta and British Columbia flocked to Montana ski areas and hotels.
—Kathy Cobb
