Kissimmee tourism leaders hope to curb Canadian journey drop

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Canadian journey to Orlando International Airport is down 17% in contrast with this time final yr, in accordance with Experience Kissimmee, as native tourism leaders pointed to a number of components affecting worldwide visitation to Central Florida.

The decline comes as Canada is ready to impose dollar-for-dollar tariffs on varied American merchandise beginning Sept. 8 to counter a 50% tariff imposed by the United States on particular Canadian merchandise earlier this month.

Those tensions are among the many components contributing to fewer Canadians visiting the area, journey specialists mentioned. Experience Kissimmee, the tourism authority for Osceola County, mentioned Canada stays one of many high worldwide tourism markets for the county.

The company mentioned Canadian journey to Orlando International Airport was down 21% from October 2025 to February, a decline of roughly 238,000 individuals.

The drop is being felt by companies that depend on worldwide guests, together with these at Old Town in Kissimmee.

“I’ve worked in the tourism industry for 30 years, and the tourism drops that we’ve seen this year, I have never seen before aside from COVID and things like that,” mentioned Thearon Scurlock, normal supervisor and vp of Old Town Kissimmee.

Local companies at Old Town have been affected by fewer guests, with some storefronts on hiring freezes or navigating monetary challenges, Scurlock mentioned.

“We’ve seen a decrease in all markets, really,” Scurlock mentioned. “You know, Canadians obviously, but UK and Brazil, which were always very strong for us, has been very soft.”

Experience Kissimmee mentioned Canadian vacationers spend a median of $1,261 per journey in Central Florida and keep a median of seven.7 days. The company mentioned this yr’s decline in Canadian guests may quantity to thousands and thousands of {dollars} in misplaced spending, citing knowledge from Visa and the Survey of International Air Travelers.

Several Experience Kissimmee workers members not too long ago visited Canada to satisfy with enterprise companions concerning the decline.

“Canada is definitely a politically charged environment at the moment, and some segments of the market are choosing not to travel because of their political beliefs and some frustrations they have going on,” mentioned Casey Leppanen, chief advertising officer for Experience Kissimmee. “Things are on the up and up. Last year, numbers were a little bit more of a decrease down in the mid-20s, but seeing a 17% decrease may seem negative, but you know, trending in the right direction.”

Factors in addition to the tariffs taking impact Sept. 8 embrace the worth of the U.S. greenback in comparison with the Canadian greenback, Leppanen mentioned.

“The tariffs are out of our control, right? There’s nothing we can do to change a tariff or change a policy,” Leppanen mentioned. “Our goal is just to reinforce those of, ‘Hey, if you’re choosing not to come, that’s your choice, and you’re always going to be welcome here.’”

Overall for Experience Kissimmee, worldwide visitation is up 2% yr over yr. Including home journey, visitation is up 7% yr over yr.

Leppanen mentioned what makes Central Florida stand out, and what makes it much less weak to the monetary influence from fewer Canadians visiting the nation, is the truth that Central Florida presents a wide range of locations, together with entry to the theme parks, in contrast to many different home locations.

The largest influence is felt by individuals working in lodges, shops, eating places and sights resembling Old Town, Leppanen mentioned.

Experience Kissimmee additionally cited knowledge from Visa and SIAT that acknowledged Canadian customer spending declined by practically 24.6% between May 2025 and April 2026. However, the company mentioned the typical Canadian customer spent simply over 1% extra this yr. Experience Kissimmee mentioned it’s hopeful the rise in common spending per customer will assist offset some fiscal influence from Canadian vacationers total.

“I don’t think that we are foreseeing a bigger decrease. Like going back, we’ve seen positive outlook the last four months,” Leppanen mentioned. “Typically, we see our biggest influx in Canadian travelers from December through April. So here in Kissimmee, we’re optimistic that Canada is going to rebound and still see some positive growth.”

During Experience Kissimmee’s latest discussions with Canadian companions, discomfort with politics and relations between the U.S. and Canada have been addressed, Leppanen mentioned.

“Pretty much every conversation we had meeting with trade or PR revolved around politics and tariffs and how it impacted them personally or some of their choices when it came to travel,” Leppanen mentioned.