Travel from Canada to US takes a hit, with tourists angered by Trump's rhetoric

Record ID: 1983520

  • Title: Travel from Canada to US takes a hit, with tourists angered by Trump's rhetoric
  • Date: 12th March 2025
  • Summary: CANCUN, MEXICO (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZINA OUKIL, 32-YEAR-OLD CANADIAN TOURIST, SAYING: "I would love to go back to the U.S., but right now, as things are, I as a Canadian, don't really feel safe or welcomed." LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) PASSENGERS WITH SUITCASES WALKING TOWARDS THE TOM BRADLEY INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL AT LAX V
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Canada Trump tariffs travel
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ ALEXANDRA BAY AND 1000 ISLANDS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/ NAVSHVILLE, TENNESSE, UNITED STATES/ CHAMPLAIN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/CANCUN, MEXICO/IN AIR
  • City: LOS ANGELES, CALFORNIA, UNITED STATES/ ALEXANDRA BAY AND 1000 ISLANDS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/ NAVSHVILLE, TENNESSE, UNITED STATES/ CHAMPLAIN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/CANCUN, MEXICO/IN AIR
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Government/Politics,International Trade
  • Reuters ID: LVA00F769610032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Right on the U.S.-Canadian border, Corey Fram's tourism marketing job has gotten a lot harder of late.
    Fram is director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, which promotes a nature destination with castles, cruises, hikes and fishing enjoyed by Canadians and Americans. But he says U.S. President Donald Trump's continuous disparagement of Canada is taking a toll.
    "We have had to switch gears a bit," Fram said from his office near the 1,800 tiny scenic islands that dot the St. Lawrence River framed by New York State and Ontario province.
    Seeing Canadian and American flags often flying side by side, travelers didn't care what side of the border they were on. Now, with Trump's recent rhetoric, Fram has had to adjust his message.
    "We've been very careful not to broadcast and demonstrate U.S. assets to Canadian audiences and Canadian assets to U.S. audiences because when we have, we found that has drawn out a lot of negative sentiment," Fram said.
    Canadians have been stung by Trump's actions and words since he returned to the White House, both around tariffs and suggestions that Canada should be annexed by the United States.
    The American anthem has been booed at hockey games and some stores are removing U.S. products from their shelves, even before Trump's latest salvo on Tuesday, when he increased tariffs on imported Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%.
    Travelers are responding with their wallets. New bookings to the United States from Canada have declined about 20% since February 1 compared with the year-ago period, according to Forward Keys, a flight ticketing data firm.
    United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Tuesday (March 11) the company has adjusted its capacity due to a big drop in incoming traffic from Canada.
    This worries the U.S. travel industry. Inbound travel to the United States is still just 90% of pre-pandemic levels, Geoff Freeman, CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said in an interview.
    No other country's residents go to the United States more than Canada, which notched 20.4 million visits in 2024. Canadian travelers also spend three times more on vacations than domestic U.S. travelers, said Freeman.
    Saturday night hotel bookings in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal city near the Canadian border which offers skiing and ferries to Alaska, declined 10.8% from February 2 through March 1. Bookings in Niagara Falls, New York, fell 8.1% over the same period, according to analytics firm CoStar.
    Weather and the exchange rate also affected cross-border travel in 2024, said Jan Freitag, director of U.S. hospitality at CoStar.
    "The thing that is different this year is the rhetoric from the administration that has a lot of Canadians thinking twice about coming across the border."
    On Tuesday, the Trump administration said it will require all foreigners in the U.S. to register and submit fingerprints beginning April 11 if they stay beyond 30 days. Canadians are not exempted, even though they typically can visit the U.S. for up to six months without a visa.
    Canadians aren't the only travelers backing off from the U.S. Bookings from Denmark and Germany decreased 27% and 15% year-over-year, respectively, according to Forward Keys. Demand from Europe as a whole only slightly decreased at 1%.
    But Canada's proximity makes it more important. A 10% drop in Canadian travelers could cost the United States $2.1 billion in lost spending, the U.S. Travel Association estimated.
    "I would love to go back to the U.S., but right now, as things are, I as a Canadian don't really feel safe or welcomed," said artist manager Zina Oukil, 32, from Calgary. She is vacationing in Cancun, Mexico with her husband after canceling a road trip to Los Angeles.
    "I feel very sad about it, but also a little bit frustrated and quite frankly angry," Oukil said.
    (Production: Doyinsola Oladipo, Sandra Stojanovic, Omar Younis)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register