Norim Pulse - Georgia Didn’t Realize Canadians Leaving Would Hurt Tourism This Bad

Georgia Didn’t Realize Canadians Leaving Would Hurt Tourism This Bad

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
New numbers are in showing fewerCanadians are spending the
summer here in Vacationland. Yeah, that is according to the
newest data that just released by the federal government.
CBS 13 Sam Dicos spoke with business owners who say they're
already feeling the effects first hand.
Travelling to the US under Donald Trump can carry a lot of
emotional baggage. We created an atmosphere that's
very hostile for us. With everything going on South

(00:23):
of the border, just seem to be alot safer to just travel within
Canada 3. Point $2 billion, the voice on
the other end of the line whispered, trembling.
That's how much Canadian spending just vanished from
Georgia's economy. Gone.
It was the kind of number that usually follows a natural
disaster, not a tourism report. But this wasn't a hurricane.

(00:43):
This was something worse, because no one saw it coming.
For decades, George's relationship with Canadian
visitors was as dependable as the tides.
Every winter, the migration would begin.
Snowbirds from Ontario and Quebec packed up their cars and
drove S trading blizzards for blooming dogwoods, frozen
sidewalks for Savannah's Moss draped squares.

(01:04):
They filled Tybee Islands beachfront rentals, booked
cabins in the Blue Ridge, and fueled the state's tourism
engine through the slow, cold months.
When domestic travel dropped off, their visits weren't just
vacations, they were economic life lines.
They stayed for months, spent freely and treated Georgia not
like a destination but a second home.

(01:25):
And then, without fanfare or headlines, the pattern broke.
It started as a trickle. A few canceled reservations
here, an early departure there. Airlines noticed it first.
Seasonal flights once packed with Canadian retirees now left
half empty. Property managers who used to
juggle wait lists suddenly had vacancies they couldn't fill.

(01:45):
By the time anyone realized it was more than coincidence, the
exodus was under way. Canadian buyers began selling
off second homes at a rate that alarmed real estate agents.
Entire condo complexes, once buzzing with northern neighbors,
fell eerily silent. Rental agencies watched bookings
crater. Local business owners described
winters that felt like offseasons.

(02:06):
The most loyal customer base Georgia had ever known wasn't
coming back. Not for now, maybe not ever.
And here's the part that really stings.
No one believed it was possible.For years, Georgia assumed
Canadians needed its sunshine more than Georgia needed their
dollars. They believed weather would
always win out over politics, policy or perception.

(02:26):
They were wrong. The state that once treated
Canadian tourism as a permanent fixture is learning a hard
truth. Nothing about this business is
guaranteed. And as Georgia's beach is empty
and its cabins go dark, one uncomfortable question now hangs
in the air. How did no one see the breakup
coming? If the departures were the
symptom, Georgia's politics werethe disease.
The unraveling of a decades longrelationship didn't happen

(02:48):
because of hurricanes or pandemics.
It happened because of decisionsdeliberate, calculated, and
disastrously short sighted ones.It began quietly, with a handful
of new security measures that sounded harmless enough on
paper, enhanced background checks for long term visitors,
additional visa paperwork for retirees, and new property
ownership disclosures for foreign buyers.

(03:10):
Officials called them common sense policies.
Canadians called them something else hostile.
Suddenly, a six month winter stay required fingerprints,
additional interviews and monthsof bureaucratic back and forth.
The process that used to feel like a warm welcome now felt
like an interrogation. Then came the rhetoric.
Politicians eager to score domestic points started railing

(03:31):
against foreign property owners,painting them as threats to
local control of Georgia's housing mark.
The message might have played well on talk radio, but to
Canadians who had spent years investing in those very
communities, it sounded like a door slamming shut.
Property restriction bills followed thinly veiled attempts
to curb foreign ownership that sent a clear signal.
Your money is welcome, but you are not.

(03:53):
While lawmakers congratulated themselves on protecting
Georgia, early warning signs were flashing everywhere.
Airlines quietly cut routes after winter bookings plunged.
Beach towns reported offseason revenue drops of 25% or more.
Small business owners in Savannah and Brunswick started
cutting staff before Christmas. And yet state leaders brushed it

(04:14):
off. Press releases celebrated record
domestic tourism speeches insisted nothing was wrong.
The fundamentals are strong, oneofficial declared.
As entire snowbird communities emptied out.
They mistook loyalty for dependents, believing Canadian
visitors had no alternative. But Canadians did what customers
always do when they feel unwanted.

(04:34):
They left. They booked flights to Portugal
instead of Atlanta, bought condos in Mexico instead of
Savannah, and shifted their spending to places that valued
them. George's leadership never
believed they would walk away. Now they're watching billions in
tourism revenue walk out the door.
It wasn't the weather or the beaches that changed.
It was the welcome. The VIX, at its core, is a

(04:55):
measure of market uncertainty. The VIX could be going up
because of bullish positioning in the underlying SPX options
market. And when the welcome
disappeared, so did the Canadians.
When the Canadian visitors disappeared, the numbers they
took with them told the story better than any press release
ever could. For decades, their economic
footprint stretched far beyond beaches and B&B's.

(05:18):
Seasonal residents didn't just spend a week on vacation.
They spent four to six months inGeorgia's communities.
On average, a Canadian snowbird household poured more than
$30,000 into the state every winter.
They paid property taxes on second homes that kept municipal
budgets balanced. They spent thousands on retail,
groceries and entertainment. They filled doctors offices and

(05:39):
dental clinics, often schedulingprocedures around their winter
stays. They kept landscapers, handymen
and contractors employed year round.
When that money vanished, it wasn't just the tourism industry
that suffered. It was the entire local economy.
Resorts that used to boast 90% occupancy in January now sit
half empty, with vacancy signs flickering where no vacancy used

(06:01):
to hang. Vacation rental companies that
once juggled wait lists now scramble to fill even half their
listings. In towns like St.
Mary's and Darien, winter used to mean bustling sidewalks and
packed restaurants. Now, offseason revenue is drying
up. Storefronts that survived the
slow summer months thanks to snowbird dollars are shuttering
before spring. One restaurant owner in Savannah

(06:23):
summed it up with a grim smile. Winter was always when we made
our money. Now winter's when we lose it.
Car rental agencies report 40% declines in bookings.
Tour operators who relied on Canadian retirees for weekday
business now cancel trips for lack of passengers.
Even medical centers, once comfortably booked months in

(06:43):
advance, report dramatic drops in patient volume, forcing
layoffs and service cuts. The ripple effect reaches city
halls to sales tax collections are plunging.
Seasonal business licenses go unused.
Towns that once built budgets around predictable Canadian
spending are now rating reservesjust to keep the lights on.
Georgia built its winter economyon a dependable influx of

(07:05):
foreign wealth. That wealth didn't trickle out.
It vanished overnight. And without it, entire local
economies are learning how fragile their prosperity really
was. The dominoes have started
falling, and there's no sign they'll stop.
The Canadian departure didn't just empty hotels, it gutted
George's Property Market for decades.
Snowbirds weren't just visitors,they were owners.

(07:27):
They bought beachfront condos inBrunswick, mountain cabins and
Blue Ridge, and townhouses in Savannah's historic districts.
They didn't just rent. They invested, renovated and
built. But as the political climate
shifted and the welcome wore thin, those same homeowners
started unloading their properties in droves.
The sell off came fast and hard.Real estate agents who once

(07:49):
celebrated bidding wars now talkabout inventory gluts.
Listings that used to disappear in weeks now sit unsold for
months. Entire condo complexes once
filled with Canadian plates in the parking lot now look like
ghost towns. And as supply exploded while
demand collapsed, property values followed.
In key vacation corridors, home prices have dropped 20% to 30%.

(08:12):
In some seasonal communities, the losses are even steeper.
That collapse doesn't just hurt sellers, it undermines the tax
base. Counties that relied on foreign
property taxes to fund schools, emergency services and
infrastructure suddenly face massive shortfalls.
The cost of maintaining roads, police departments and public
works haven't gone down, but therevenue to pay for them has.

(08:36):
The economic consequences extendfar beyond City Hall.
Construction companies that specialized in vacation property
upgrades, kitchens, decks, landscaping are watching
contracts evaporate. Maintenance firms that depended
on snowbird clients for steady work are shuttering entirely.
Even furniture stores and appliance retailers, once buoyed
by seasonal buyers furnishing second homes, now face steep

(08:59):
declines. And perhaps the most devastating
effect is psychological. Entire communities, places
literally built around seasonal populations, are facing an
identity crisis. Neighborhood associations, once
defined by their Canadian membership, now struggle to find
new buyers. Seasonal events are being
cancelled. Clubs and organizations that
relied on snowbird participationare dissolving.

(09:21):
Georgia didn't just lose visitors.
It lost residents, investors anda cultural fabric woven over
decades. What's left behind is an economy
built for a population that no longer exists, streets,
businesses and infrastructure designed for a demand that has
vanished. The real estate market isn't
just cooling, it's collapsing. And the void left behind may be

(09:42):
impossible to fill. While Georgia scrambled to
explain away its disappearing Canadians, other destinations
didn't waste a second. They smelled opportunity, and
they pounced. In Portugal, glossy ad campaigns
began popping up in Canadian airports and retirement
magazines Winter Without Worry, they promised, highlighting year
long residency permits, English speaking healthcare networks and

(10:04):
tax incentives designed specifically for foreign
retirees. Mexico followed suit, slashing
paperwork and introducing A streamlined long stay visa that
could be approved in days instead of months.
Caribbean nations launched jointmarketing efforts touting
beachfront properties, no fingerprint entry and
governments that welcome you like family.

(10:24):
While Georgia lawmakers were still denying a problem existed,
competitors were rolling out redcarpets and Canadians noticed
they weren't just tourists, theywere consumers making rational
choices. Why endure background checks and
property restrictions in Georgiawhen a villa in the Algarve
comes with healthcare access anda tax break?
Why risk political hostility in Savannah when a beachfront condo

(10:47):
in Belize offers permanent residency and 0 bureaucratic
headaches? And once they tried these
alternatives, they discovered something unexpected.
They like them. No one knows what the future
holds. When upheaval strikes, all that
glitters is gold. The beaches were just as warm,
the communities were just as welcoming, sometimes more so.

(11:10):
The cost of living was lower, the paperwork lighter, and the
message from local governments was clear.
We want you here. That's the deadly truth about
trust and tourism. Once it's broken, it's almost
impossible to rebuild. Visitors who feel pushed out
don't come back just because therhetoric softens.
They put down routes somewhere else.
They build new routines, they tell their friends, and the

(11:32):
network effect compounds. Today, many of the same
Canadians who once lined the Georgia coast every winter are
sipping sangria in Spain or watching sunsets in Puerto
Vallarta. And they're not looking back.
Georgia's absence on their travel calendars isn't an
accident. It's the consequence of assuming
loyalty was permanent. And now, as other destinations
rake in the billions Georgia left on the table, the state is

(11:54):
discovering A brutal truth. In a global tourism market,
someone is always ready to take your place.
There's a temptation in Georgia's halls of power to
frame all this as inevitable, toblame global economics, currency
shifts or post pandemic travel habits.
But the reality is far simpler and far more damning.
This didn't have to happen. The Canadian exodus wasn't

(12:14):
destiny. It was a choice, a chain
reaction set off by arrogance, fueled by political theater and
cemented by a refusal to listen to the data screaming from every
corner of the tourism industry. Airline seat maps, booking
trends, property sales. They all told the same story
months before the collapse. But leaders ignored them,

(12:34):
convinced that sunshine alone could keep visitors coming back.
They were wrong, and now the numbers don't lie.
Replacing a six month snowbird household that spends $30,000 a
season isn't as simple as luringa few more week long tourists
from Chicago. Domestic visitors spend a
fraction of what Canadians once did, and they don't buy second
homes, schedule medical procedures or keep small towns

(12:57):
alive through the offseason. You can't patch a structural
hole in your economy with weekend getaways.
And yet that's exactly what Georgia is trying to do.
The consequences stretch far beyond tourism.
Entire communities built around seasonal populations are facing
extinction. Municipal budgets once supported
by foreign property taxes are collapsing.
Businesses that took decades to build or shutting their doors.

(13:19):
And all because leaders chose political points over economic
reality. There's still a narrow path
forward, but it requires humility and action.
That means rolling back hostile policies, simplifying long stay
visas, rebuilding relationships with Canadian travel agencies,
and launching aggressive outreach campaigns that prove
Georgia wants them back. It means acknowledging the

(13:40):
mistake publicly and doing the hard work to fix it.
But even then, recovery won't bequick.
Trust takes years to rebuild, and every season that passes
makes the damage harder to reverse.
Because here's the harshest truth of all.
The snowbirds never needed Georgia's sunshine.
Georgia needed their wings. And now that they've flown
elsewhere, the state is discovering just how cold a

(14:01):
winter without them can be. This video was intense but this
video on the right hand side is even more insane.