Canadians, stung by Trump's tariffs and rhetoric, balk at US travel

Right on the US-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 US 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 US assets to Canadian audiences and Canadian assets to US 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 US 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 US exchange rate.

This worries the US travel industry. Inbound travel to the United States is still just 90% of pre-pandemic levels, Geoff Freeman, CEO of the US 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 US 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 US 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."

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 US 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 US for up to six months without a visa.

Canadians aren't the only travelers backing off from the US 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 US Travel Association estimated.

"I would love to go back to the US, 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.