Kaia Matheny (left) and Nora Lamphiear (right), co-owners of Adrift Restaurant in Anacortes, Washington.
Kaia Matheny.
Anacortes, a small coastal town in Washington state, typically bustles with tourists during the summer months.
But local business owners like Kaia Matheny are bracing for less foot traffic — and a financial hit — this year as tensions around trade and concerns about immigration policy push foreigners to reconsider the U.S. as a travel destination.
Matheny is the co-owner of Adrift Restaurant, a nautical themed farm-to-table eatery in downtown Anacortes. The town, a gateway to the San Juan islands, is a two-hour drive south of Vancouver.
She’s seen sales fall amid fewer customers from Canada, which is generally the U.S.’