Sask. outfitters thrilled to welcome back American guests

Saskatchewan outfitters are excited to see American visitors travelling into the province once again.

All of Jordan Rowswell’s revenue comes from American guests.

Rowswell’s 12 Gauge Outfitting, located in the west-central part of the province, has a good number of guests booked to visit over September and October.

“They’re just as excited to come here as we are excited to have them,” Rowswell said.

But the return isn’t as large as hoped for. Rowswell said the numbers in each group coming are dwindling leading up to their arrival.

“We’ve had a lot of guys back out. There seems to be a fear of the unknown,” Rowswell explained.

These unknowns include whether visitors will have to quarantine when they arrive, the COVID-19 testing processes before and after their arrival, worries about health insurance crossing the border and concerns that the Canada-U.S. border might close at any given moment.

Rowswell thinks the concerns of their guests are valid.

“There seems to be a lot of confusion in the industry right now as to the requirements for this,” he said. “It’s still pretty new to everybody, I guess, so until we get a solid plan going forward … I think the confusion will continue.”

Being a waterfowl outfitter, Rowswell’s business is only open in September and October each year. While the border opened early enough this year to ensure a steady stream of visitors, the outfitter didn’t earn any revenue from tourism last year.

“The nice thing is, there’s not a whole lot of expense when you’re not operating, so other than your insurance and business loans you might say (there are) no operating expenses, really,” Rowswell said.

12 Gauge Outfitting also never stopped taking bookings for its upcoming seasons.

“(It’s) easier to cancel them than it is to try and book them and then line everything up,” said Rowswell, who said the company has a number of openings for group hunts each season to fill.

Also related to the pandemic, Rowswell is concerned about a lack of direct flights to Saskatoon from the United States.

“Right now … it seems like the only direct flights close to us are into Edmonton; there’s no U.S. flights going into Saskatoon,” he said.

Flying into Edmonton only adds about an hour for guests commuting to the outfitter, but it’s still something that has concerned some outfitters in the province.

Rowswell, however, is excited to see guests back at his lodge.

“We’re overdue to have some guests and we were all really excited when they finally came up with an opening date and plan,” he said.