Miami | Installed in his “office” on the Motel terrace which bears his first name on a large Boulevard d’Hollywood, Florida, the owner Richard Clavet speaks with a franchise of the particular winter he has just crossed. “It’s sad. It touches my heart straight, because I like people. It makes me experience. “
The one who bought the Motel in 1990 made it an Floridian institution for Quebecers looking for heat in the middle of winter. Clavet never thought that by allowing them to stay at home with a favorable and special pricing skewer, he would lose as much in just a few weeks.
Photo provided by Richard Clavet
The reasons?
The election of Donald Trump and the trade war that the American president started with Canada affecting millions of wallets in addition to stinging the moral fiber directly.
“It was off to a good start in December and January. We had a lot of reservations. It looked good … until February, he says, surrounded by mineralized plates from Canadian provinces. When I watched the book of reservations, I saw a lot of barred lines and liquid paper. It was sick. “
Photo François-David Rouleau
More details
Clavet, who owns seven establishments and nearly 250 units in the region between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, quickly realized that these cancellations were mainly due to politics.
“We were often told that it was because of a disease. But by digging, it was mainly because people decided to go to Cuba because of our madman or our dictator in place, or to Mexico, tells the 60 -year -old man from Quebec.
“But people do not realize that he was a dictator also in Cuba and that the island has often lacked electricity in the past year. And in Mexico, it’s more and more violent. ”
-This 2025 reality caused by Trump disappoints him, because he says he has always favored Quebecers on vacation and visiting several weeks warm. He accommodates them at a preferential price, tries to treat them in the small onions, organizes activities in addition to shows with known artists from the Belle Province and outings in the region.
Photo François-David Rouleau
Photo François-David Rouleau
Income up
Clavet has not yet gathered all the data of his first quarter of the year 2025, but he estimates that his turnover increased by 6% due to the deposits of reservations and multiple major events in the region. However, the occupancy rate has decreased with more free units.
These consequences will also affect the winter of 2026. Snowbirds have so far made fewer reservations. Already in decline in the Sunshine State According to the US Travel Association, their population will continue to decrease in the coming months and years, according to the multitude of testimonies harvested since January.
Listening to him, he loves Trump, but he doesn’t assign all the faults to him. It is obviously not satisfied to see the majority of its unhappy customers due to the political climate. He would like to see them happy.
Full for F1
By his own admission, Clavet did not see the wave of the Miami Grand Prix coming. He had his head elsewhere. Online, an environment he describes as the wild wild west For a man preferring old reservation methods, prices have inevitably increased.
He also noted it during the passage of Taylor Swift last fall.
Each major event, he notes the increase in his book of reservations.
Despite this, he prefers to host visitors in the longer term than the moment of a weekend that wants to be more demanding.
