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Trump's rhetoric affects inbound US tourism demand

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Canadian travel to US drops 20% in February

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US travel industry faces potential challenges with

Canadian

visitor decline

By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - 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 the

company has adjusted its capacity due to a big drop in incoming

traffic from Canada.

"We've lost a lot of interest in going to the States in

general," said Allyson C., 34, from Vancouver, who canceled her

family's summer vacation to Washington, D.C., citing the

on-again, off-again tariffs and the U.S. exchange rate.

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 ( CSGP ).

Weather and the exchange rate also affected cross-border

travel in 2024, said Jan Freitag, director of U.S. hospitality

at CoStar ( CSGP ).

"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."

Fram said his tourism council is also not getting as warm a

reception to invitations to bring Canadian travel writers and

influencers to Thousand Islands attractions on the New York

side.

"Anytime that we put a restriction and make it difficult or

make people not want to cross the border, that has a lasting

impact," said Fram. "It is going to be a significant challenge

to get back to where we were before this."

The Trump administration said it will require all

foreigners above the age of 14 in the U.S. to

register

and submit fingerprints beginning April 11 if they stay

beyond 30 days. Canadians are not exempt, 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.