In Canadian Travel Circles, 'Near-Total Collapse of US Business'

Trump's attacks on Canada's economy via his tariffs-driven trade war and threats to make it the 51st state have infuriated Canadians, who are canceling trips to the United States in big numbers. They also seem to have flipped the narrative heading into Canada's parliamentary elections on Monday, with Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party surging after trailing far behind in the polls just a few months ago, per the AP.

• Steep decline: The US receives more visitors from Canada annually than from any other country, per the US Travel Association, which said the 20.4 million visits from Canada last year generated $20.5 billion in spending. But there's been a big drop in foreigners traveling to the US since Trump took office, and Canadians are no exception. There were more than 910,000 fewer land border crossings from Canada into the US last month than in March 2024—a 22%-plus drop—per US Customs and Border Protection data. An Air Canada rep, meanwhile, said Canada-US flight bookings for April through September are down about 10%.

• Traveler worries: Since Trump started his second term, there've been well-publicized reports of tourists being stopped at US border crossings and held for weeks at immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense. On March 3, for instance, Canadian actor Jasmine Mooney was detained by US border agents in San Diego and released after 12 days.
• Academics: The Canadian Association of University Teachers warned its members against nonessential travel to the US due to the "political landscape" under Trump and reports of Canadians encountering difficulties crossing the border. Academics who've expressed negative views about the Trump administration should be particularly cautious, said the group.
• Industry concerns: McKenzie McMillan, a consultant with the Vancouver-based Travel Group, said the company's bookings to the US have dried up. "We have seen a near-total collapse of US business," McMillan said. "Probably about a 90% drop since February." Lesley Keyter, founder of the Travel Lady agency in Calgary, said she's seen people actually forfeit money to cancel their US trips. "Even if they're going on a Caribbean cruise, they don't want to go down to Fort Lauderdale to get on the cruise ship," she noted.
• Trump's reaction: The US president brushed aside the decline in tourism to the US on Wednesday, saying, "There's a little nationalism, there I guess, perhaps. It's not a big deal." More here.

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