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ICYMI: Economic Concerns Rise as Small Businesses Bear the Brunt of Ayotte’s Silence on Trump’s Trade Wars
New reporting from IndepthNH reveals the ongoing anxieties inside New Hampshire’s hospitality industry as the busy season for tourists commences. The “economy, combined with the loss of Canadian visitors,” is drawing “definite concern” among small business owners and those in the hospitality sector. People are tightening their budgets as gas prices and food costs continue to soar. Under Trump, inflation has jumped to an annual rate of 4.2% for the third consecutive month and just hit a three-year high.
But Kelly Ayotte continues to look the other way, ignoring the concerns of New Hampshire small businesses. Granite Staters are paying more because of Trump’s tariffs, and Ayotte has stayed silent while families pick up the tab. Ayotte failed to join lawsuits against the Trump administration for their illegal tariffs and has refused to demand tariff refunds for Granite Staters.
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IndepthNH: Lakes Region Hospitality Officials Concerned About Economy as Bike Week, Summer Approach
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LACONIA – There’s concern among Lakes Region lodging and hospitality interests that the economy – combined with the loss of Canadian visitors due to the Trump Administration’s negative rhetoric toward them – will impact summer travel this year, and Laconia Motorcycle Week might be an indicator of the months to come.
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Grace McNamara, executive director for community engagement for the Lakes Region Chamber, said Friday that there is a “definite concern” among those in the hospitality sector about the summer, though “people are hopeful.”
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She said a kick-off event for Bike Week, which was held Thursday had many people excited about the rally, but Ragi Patel, general manager of the Best Western Plus Landmark Inn in downtown Laconia said while she has lots of reservations for the weekends for Bike Week, weekdays right now are slow, and that was not the case last year for Bike Week.
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“I have not seen a single person with a Canadian drivers license,” in weeks, she said.
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Patel said it is not just the loss of Canadian visitors, which was estimated as down 30 percent last year, but also now the increased price of gas – $1 more a gallon compared to this time last year – food costs and she said entertainment is a part of people’s budgets which are being cut out right now due to inflationary costs.
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Brooke Nadeau, owner of the 1848 Inn on Route 3 in Weirs Beach agreed she would like to have a full house this coming Monday and Tuesday but noted that in the four years of ownership, the same Canadian visitors are still coming and she still gets last minute walk in reservations.
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“We’re looking okay,” Nadeau said. “But I’d love to have Monday and Tuesday full.”
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Charlie St. Clair, who has been in a leadership role for promoting Bike Week since the early 1990s, said in a recent gathering with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, that there is not much that can be done about the situation created by the Republican Trump Administration which has called on Canadians to make their country the 51st state in the union and launched a war against Iran which has led to high gas prices and increased costs.
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