08:10 AM EST, 11/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- How Canadian travelers are acting has proven to have been a far more effective antidote to President Donald Trump's United States tariffs than Ontario Premier Doug Ford's advertisement, said Rosenberg Research.

Cross-border air travel to the U.S. in September was down by a hefty 10.5% year-over-year, the eighth straight negative result, and some -5.4% below the pre-pandemic level, noted Rosenberg Research. "Florida and Vegas are hurting badly."

That said, Canadians are still traveling overseas -- traffic to Europe and Asia is up nearly 7% from year-ago levels and is over +13% above pre-2020 levels. This represents a deliberate shift away from U.S. destinations, stated Rosenberg.

One reason why the White House labels Canadians as being "mean" and "nasty."

Meanwhile, domestic airline travel in Canada has gained more than 10% over the past 12 months and is nearly 12% higher than the levels prevailing before COVID-19 nearly six years ago.

You can see the benefits of internal travel and tourism in the data, added Rosenberg. In an August that saw real gross domestic product decline by 0.3%, volume spending on accommodation and food services expanded by 0.3% (up +3.5% on a year-over-year basis; five times the +0.7% year-over-year trend in the overall economy).

The amusement/recreation sector is riding a seven-month winning streak (+0.3% month over month in August) and the year-over-year trend is at +3.6%, now at the high-water mark of the year. Rail transit has also risen by a "healthy" 4.5% from year-ago levels.

So, what the Trump tariffs have done in terms of piling on damage in the industrial sector (-1.1% year over year), the law of unintended consequences has created at least a partial antidote with respect to the boom that has taken place in the Canadian hospitality space, according to Rosenberg.