In a recent speech, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, clearly annoyed by import tariffs levied by U.S. President Donald Trump and his threats of making Canada 鈥渢he 51st state,鈥 suggested that Canadians might act individually to respond to the affronts.
鈥淣ow is also the time to choose Canada,鈥 said Trudeau, who added: 鈥淚t might mean changing your summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations our great country has to offer.鈥
In the weeks since, it appears that at least some Canadian citizens are taking his directive seriously.
鈥淚鈥檝e decided that I will no longer be travelling to the U.S. unless it鈥檚 absolutely necessary to go,鈥 said Harold White, 72, who lives in Quebec.
White, a lawyer, said he had cancelled an annual summer trip to Maine, one that he has made every year for 60 years. Over the decades, he made friends with local residents there, he said, whom he does not expect to see for the next four years.
Instead, he and his wife plan to travel to Spain, and, in later years, make road trips across Canada.
鈥淚t pains me to think that I鈥檓 not going to Maine or to Cape Cod, or even to New York City, for a vacation in the near term,鈥 said White, who noted that he continued to travel to the United States during Trump鈥檚 first term. 鈥淏ut this time around, really, I feel like Canadians have been slapped across the face by Trump.鈥
According to the U.S. Travel Association, a non-profit group that represents the U.S. travel industry, Canadians made 20.4 million visits to the United States last year and were responsible for $20.5 billion in spending. A 10-per-cent decline in Canadian visitors would amount to a $2.1-billion loss, the group said.
鈥淲e have seen that people are starting to pivot away and avoid the U.S.,鈥 said Alexis von Hoensbroech, the CEO of WestJet, the second-largest airline in Canada. 鈥淲e see also an increase of bookings into Mexico, into the Caribbean, into other non-U. S. destinations.鈥
Mark Galardo, a vice-president for Air Canada, the country鈥檚 largest airline, said that it would be adjusting its schedule from March onward in order to 鈥渄e-risk鈥 the situation.
鈥淲e are anticipating proactively that there could be a slowdown,鈥 he said in a statement.
Florida, California, Nevada, New York and Texas are the most visited U.S. states by Canadians. Those states could experience declines in revenue in their retail and hospitality sectors from a Canadian travel boycott, according to U.S. Travel.
However, in a statement, Geoff Freeman, the group鈥檚 CEO, said the United States received the largest number of international visitors ever in 2018, in the middle of the first Trump administration, and that what travellers say and what they do are often different.
鈥淚f we have a decline in travel from any specific destination, we will share that information where it needs to be shared and work with the administration to solve for that problem,鈥 Freeman said. 鈥淲e do want them coming to the United States. If that鈥檚 not happening, then we鈥檝e got work to do.鈥
In a statement, a spokesperson for Flight Center Travel Group, an international travel agency, said the company has seen a 鈥渟oftening in cross-border travel bookings鈥 from Canada to the United States, a shift that has been gaining momentum since November. The Canadian dollar is weak compared with the U.S. dollar, the statement said, and that reluctance was exacerbated by the announcement on tariffs.
Amra Durakovic, the spokesperson, said Canadians鈥 鈥渄esire for travel鈥 remained strong, with many prioritizing other destinations over the United States so that travellers could 鈥渕ake the most of their journeys.鈥
鈥淟ooking ahead, we remain hopeful that travel and trade between Canada and the U.S. will soon resume with the confidence and ease both countries have long enjoyed,鈥 Durakovic said in the statement.
In the United States, state tourism boards are bracing for potential effects.
Sara Otte Coleman, the tourism and marketing director for North Dakota鈥檚 department of commerce, said the state, which borders Canada, had paused its paid marketing in Canada until officials could 鈥渂etter understand the sentiment about travelling to North Dakota.鈥
Tim Chapman is the CEO of the International Peace Garden, a park that extends across the border between the Canadian province of Manitoba and North Dakota.
He said he has been receiving emails from Canadian visitors who said they no longer planned to visit the tourist attraction, which usually draws around 150,000 visitors a year.
In one exchange, Chapman said, a Canadian told him she could not visit because of the rhetoric out of Washington. He said that he explained that the garden was a non-profit that needed support from visitors and that he felt she understood.
鈥淭he Peace Garden has always stood for and advocated for the peace and co-operation of our two countries,鈥 Chapman said.
鈥淓ven though we don鈥檛 have a lot of control about what鈥檚 being said, we can still be a place where people can come together, because the vast majority of Americans and Canadians do really value that friendship and long-standing co-operation.鈥
Von Hoensbroech, the WestJet executive, said that he did expect cross-border travel to pick back up at some point. He noted that this was common in the travel industry 鈥 short-term reactions to current events that ultimately return to general stability.
Still, he said, the response was unique.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen anything like this.鈥
This article originally appeared in .
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