Snowbird season coming to an end

YUMA,(Ariz).-Each year, Yuma experiences a significant population boost during the winter months.

“Snowbirds” flock to Yuma to escape the cold in their home states, but with summer right around the corner, snowbird season is coming to an end.

Yuma typically receives 70 to 90-thousand snowbird visitors each year. Some visitors come from out of the country to escape the cold.

Marcus Carney with Visit Yuma said, “Roughly 20% of those typically are made up of Canadians, but a little less than that since Canadian travel is down this year.”

Some Canadian travelers have boycotted U.S. goods and travel due to controversial political remarks made by President Donald Trump, according to CBS News.

Despite some Canadian travel being down, snowbird travel still boosts our local economy, contributing around $450 million annually according to Yuma County.

“They are helping us sustain our economy, they are helping sustain jobs in Yuma, and they really are a huge economic driver to our community, and they are incredibly important to a lot of jobs and careers in this community,” Carney said.

With the departure of snowbirds, we are reminded of how important these seasonal visitors are to our local economy.