On a spending spree

A busload of hobbyist photographers from Quebec City cruised the Freedom Trail on a recent weekend, taking pictures of the USS Constitution and Faneuil Hall. But for many of the 54 camera-toting Canadians, shopping, not snapshots, was the focal point of the visit.

"My wife ended up at Macy's yesterday," said Edgard Pitre, who remembers the Canadian dollar was worth a few pennies less than the US dollar the last time he visited Boston - 36 years ago. During this visit, the couple went on a spending spree in Downtown Crossing. "She bought a blouse," the 59-year-old psychology professor said. "I bought books. And I'm going to buy CDs."

For the first time in three decades, the Canadian loonie is worth as much as the American greenback. The favorable exchange rate is luring Canadians into New England at record rates and buoying a range of local businesses, from bed-and-breakfast hideaways to makers of biomedical devices.

"The travel and tourism industry got hit very hard after 9/11 and was down into very depressed levels of activity in 2002 and 2003," said Brian Bethune, a US economist for Waltham-based Global Insight. "There's been steady comeback. And of course with these currency realignments, that's accelerated the rebound."

While New England is a major tourist destination for Canadians because of its proximity, the splurge in Canadian spending is occurring across the United States. Near the border, several Canadians say they're more willing to make a short drive to stock up on ordinary items at cheap prices. But the savings on big-ticket items can be significant, given the best exchange rates in a generation.

"I would buy a car in the US in a second," said Rahul Sood, a 35-year-old computer gaming executive in Calgary. He's scouring American auto dealerships for an Audi RS4, which costs about $70,000 in the United States but about $100,000 in Canada. It would be the fifth car he owns - the one designated for winter days, after he outfits the four-wheel-drive sports sedan with snow tires and a ski rack.

Sood flew to Palo Alto, Calif., last week for a business trip, but had his credit card in hand for pleasure purchases.

"Anything in the US right now is worth buying," he said. "Even real estate."

The US dollar has been weakening as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to spur the economy. That, in turn, has helped several foreign currencies stretch further here. Compared to a year ago, the euro now buys 11 percent more in America, the British pound purchases 8 percent more, the Canadian dollar 13 percent more, and the Indian rupee 15 percent more.

In July, a British family of three was searching for an autumn getaway from their home in Dartford, outside London. The slipping value of the US dollar soon seduced them into plunking down money for a two-week vacation across Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

"When it hit two to the pound, I booked it," said Peter Weir, 48, last week while on a rambling bus tour of Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. "That's why we came. To see the fall foliage and because it was cheaper than going to South Africa."

In addition to foreign tourists, US companies that sell goods or services in the European Union, Canada, or India also benefit. And exports are a significant slice of the Massachusetts economy.

"The export economy is important to us," said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston's McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies. "That's one of the reasons we're doing better here than the nation's economy as a whole."

The fluctuating exchange rates have already increased America's exports more than its imports in recent months. And because the US dollar won't buy as much abroad, Americans also are more likely to vacation stateside - injecting a second dose of tourism dollars into already popular destinations like Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Orlando.

That's one of the reasons 31-year-old Wesley Wong and his girlfriend decided to spend their four-day vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine, a few weeks ago.

"One thing that crossed my mind was that going to Europe or going to Canada was not the deal it had once been," said Wong, a Cambridge biophysicist.

Shortly before Labor Day, the president of the Massachusetts Lodging Association called 40 of the group's 250 member properties across the state to take the pulse of the summer travel season.

"Anyone I talked to in the Boston area said there seemed to be a good influx of Canadians," said Paul Sacco, the association's president. "The Canadian market is going very strong."

The number of trips Canadians make to Massachusetts annually has been increasing each of the last five years, according to the state's Office of Travel and Tourism. In 2006, they visited a total of 583,000 times, during which they spent $240 million on lodging, transportation, meals, entertainment, and shopping. Those figures are up about 40 percent since 2002, when Canadians made 414,000 visits and added $172 million to the state's economy.

Canadians' renewed interest in splurging on all things American is spurring some marketing officials to rip up their old plans.

For the past five years, Canada became something of an afterthought for Boston's tourism bosses. The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau ditched travel-industry trade shows that catered to Canadians.

But suddenly, Canada is fertile ground again.

"New England is on sale for Canadian visitors," said Patrick Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. "In our marketing plan for 2008, we are going to be back in the Canadian markets."

Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.