The Canadians organize an “elbow -up” protest against US tariffs and other guidelines by US President Donald Trump at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 22, 2025.
Carlos Osorio | Reuters
Canadians skip travel to the USA, and visitors from other countries could soon threaten to deepen the 50 billion dollar travel deficit of the United States.
Experts say that they withdraw for various reasons, from an unfavorable exchange rate to the political climate of the United States, in view of the trade policy of President Donald Trump and his public statements about Canada as well as top -class detention of people who have already been visa in the USA, and other guidelines that were added to the tariffs with long painters.
A spokesman for the White House, who came on Friday after a comment, said by e -mail that “everyone wants to come to President Trump's America”.
Canadians “no longer have to endure the inconvenience of international trips if Canada becomes our 51st state” and “the Europeans want to enjoy the golden age of America when they decide,” said the spokesman.
In response to President Trump's tariff plans, the former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked the Canadians last month to choose Canada, and suggested changing their summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations that our large country has to offer. “
The cross-border travel trends and the guidelines of the Trump Administration make some worrying in the United States travel industry, which brings more than $ 1 trillion to direct expenses per year.
In a statement to CNBC, the US Travel Association said that there is a “question of America's truth, a slowdown with the US economy and the latest security concerns.
“These challenges are real and demanding determined measures,” said the organization, to whose members belong to large hotel groups, airlines and other large travel companies, and added that “actively working with the White House and the Congress, to promote guidelines that drive the economic expansion and keep the American worldwide competitive.”
There are billions of dollars on the line. People from the United States are already traveling abroad and spend more for other countries than the United States from foreign travelers.
In the past year, the United States' travel deficit was more than 51 billion US dollars, which means that the Americans spent so much more abroad than foreigners who spent the United States and to take out the expenditure for medical and pedagogical purposes, which, according to the trade department, still had a deficit.
Last year, the United States brought more than 72 million visitors who, according to a report by Jefferies, are still undermined below the premature levels. Visitors from Canada were the largest group that made 28%, followed by Mexico with 23%, the bank announced this month in a note.
Travel and tourism from incoming visitors are counted as US exports, and according to the trade department, they have around 8% of US exports of goods and services.
According to the US Travel Association, international visitors from overseas are particularly important because they stay longer and spend more money than local tourists.
Some Canadians travel somewhere else
Both air travel as well as country crossings between the United States and Canada have no longer dropped.
In February, Canada's return flights to Canada fell by 13% compared to the previous year, while according to Statistics Canada, the return trips by car were 23%.
Hotel demand has not decreased in some areas along the Canada-US limit either. From March 15th, in Bellingham, Washington, 8% in the Niagara Falls region, according to the hotel data company Str. The demand in all of Florida, a top goal for Canadian travelers, rose by 3% compared to the previous year, the company said.
Canadian airlines cut some routes and flights to the USA
For example, Canadian Airline Flair said it canceled his planned Toronto to Nashville, Tennessee, Route.
“Our network decisions are determined exclusively by the demand from consumers – we use our aircraft, in which demand is strongest to offer the lowest tariffs for most travelers,” said a spokeswoman for the airline via e -mail.
The Canadian airline Westjet said that Canadian customers shift the bookings from the USA to other popular Sunseek destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean.
“The airline continues to focus on knowing where people want to go and we will continue to fly where it is in demand,” said a spokeswoman.
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The shift comes because the managers of travel areas have warned of weaker than expected bookings for domestic US trips, which means that more local tourism may not compensate for the decline in trans-border journey. While the spending of the US budget loan and debit cards rose by 1.5% in the previous year, expenditure for airlines, according to a report by the Bank of America, decreased by 7.2% this week.
United airlines For example, CEO Scott Kirby said at the beginning of this month at an investor conference that the airline is partly concerned because it “transferred a lot of it” to go to the USA a great decline in the USA “and a severe decline in flights that had previously taken place when the US government was traveled.
Lara Harbachian, who works for a digital printing company in Montreal, and eight friends (so far) had considered several US goals this year to celebrate their 40th birthdays: San Diego; Palm Springs, California; Savannah, Georgia; Or Nashville. The winner was further east: Barcelona, Spain.
While the flights to Europe were more expensive than those of the US goals in the USA, Harbachian said that it will be cheaper for her and her friends to visit the popular Spanish city where they don't have to rent a car, and high-end meals and hotels are cheaper, especially with a weaker Canadian dollar over weight.
“I can get a 15 -euro meal, but I can't get a 15 -dollar -eating in the USA, she said.
At the beginning of this month, Trump created a task force for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which the United States organized together with Mexico and Canada to “present the country's pride and hospitality and at the same time to promote economic growth and tourism through sport”.
Travel warnings are growing over the United States
Another challenge for the US travel industry this year is a growing number of travel warnings regarding visitors in the United States. So far, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Finland, have published travel warnings for their citizens to go to the USA.
These were prompted by people themselves, who had Visa in the United States and Trump's executive regulation that the country would only recognize two biological genders, which expressed to concern governments in Europe with regard to travelers whose passes were born a different gender.
For example, Germany said that “travelers with the gender -specific entry” X “or its current gender entry differentiates between their date of birth that they should turn to the responsible US -Diplomatic mission in Germany before entering the country to find out about the applicable entry requirements.”
Travel warnings “could deter international visitors, in particular bypassers,” said Carolin Lusby, professor of tourism at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University.
She said that there is often a rebound after an incident or a tragedy, as after the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015. “But we often know that trust as soon as a target image changes requires great efforts to bring trust back,” she said.
“With regard to the economic consequences, this could turn into billions of lost dollars,” she added.
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