U.S. tourism teams wish to win Canadian guests again. A testy commerce battle is not serving to

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Appeals from American tourism organizations gave the impression to be in every single place Josh Loewen appeared over the past yr. Billboards and banners proclaimed a state or metropolis’s love for Canada. Online and social media advertisements provided particular offers for vacationers from north of the border.

As a Vancouver resident and advertising govt himself, Loewen mentioned he understands the conciliatory overtures. The variety of Canadians touring to the United States plunged after President Donald Trump returned to workplace with remarks about making Canada the 51st state. An acrimonious commerce battle between the 2 nations now could be threatening to strengthen the casual boycott simply because it seemed to be easing barely.

“It’s such a big ask right now,” Loewen, 45, mentioned of the U.S. tourism business’s makes an attempt to woo Canadians like him again earlier than a brand new president occupies the White House. “It’s just a wasted effort.”

WATCH: The potential financial fallout of Trump’s commerce battle with Canada

Relations between the U.S. and Canadian governments have deteriorated sharply since their commerce negotiations collapsed final month. Trump imposed import taxes of as much as 50% on a spread of Canadian merchandise. Canada’s authorities responded in type. Trump ordered the U.S. authorities to vary the identify of border-spanning Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney dismissed insults from members of Trump’s Cabinet as infantile and undignified.

The bilateral rift has not stopped state and native tourism officers and in style locations like Graceland from making an attempt to influence Canadian guests to return.

New York state launched a “NY Loves Canada” promotion this summer time, providing reductions at resorts, eating places and sights. Some downtown Las Vegas resorts are treating the Canadian greenback as equal to the U.S. greenback to offer Canadian guests extra worth for his or her cash. Las Vegas tourism officers went to Canada final month to fulfill with journey advisers, tour operators and airline representatives.

“We’re here to make sure you know that we care about Canada,” Steve Hill, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, mentioned whereas in Vancouver.

The outreach is going on on the nationwide degree, too. Brand USA, the U.S. tourism business’s advertising group, is bringing its Travel Week trade-event sequence to Canada for the primary time in October, increasing and rebranding an earlier program often called Canada Connect.

Travel to the U.S. from Canada stays properly under 2024 ranges

Canada historically despatched extra in a single day worldwide guests to the United States than another nation. Amid final yr’s consumer-led backlash, each same-day journeys and longer stays nosedived. Canadian residents made 25% fewer return border crossings and spent about $2.4 billion (CA$3.3 billion) much less on journey to the U.S. in 2025 than they’d the yr earlier than, in response to Canada’s nationwide statistical company, Statistics Canada.

The retreat coincided with different headwinds, together with a weaker Canadian greenback that made touring to the U.S. costlier and rising costs for airfares and resorts. Canadian air journey to the U.S. began declining in September 2023, Statistics Canada knowledge exhibits.

READ MORE: Carney warned about financial coercion. Now Trump is testing the Canadian prime minister

But the abrupt pullback in stateside journey that accompanied Trump’s second presidency and prolonged into this yr signaled “a persistent shift away from the United States by Canadian residents in their travel preferences,” company analysts mentioned in a July report.

Tentative indicators of enchancment emerged in May, June and July, when border crossings picked up barely, the company reported. The latter two months coincided with the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S., Canada and Mexico cohosted. Canada’s nationwide soccer workforce competed through the match’s early weeks, giving some Canadians a cause to move south. Carney attended the ultimate match in New Jersey alongside Trump.

Trips by automobile accounted for many of the uptick in cross-border site visitors, whereas air journey to the U.S. fell from year-earlier ranges in each month via June, Statistics Canada mentioned. The U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office estimates that through the first six months of 2026, Canadians made even fewer in a single day visits, which generally generate extra tourism spending, than they did throughout the identical interval final yr.

Snowbirds might present a barometer of Canadian sentiment

A day after the World Cup ended, Trump introduced that tariffs on $20 billion value of Canadian items would take impact in 30 days. The White House mentioned the tariffs have been supposed to deal with U.S. complaints over Canadian obstacles to American-made vehicles, alcohol and dairy.

“You went from this really high, exciting moment for the U.S. in terms of international attention, to the next week, it’s negative again,” mentioned Deborah Friedland, a hospitality advisor at monetary companies agency Eisner Advisory Group. “It’s one step forward and two steps back.”

With the summer time now winding down, a few of the U.S. locations most depending on Canadian guests are heading into their most necessary season. Large numbers of Canadian snowbirds sometimes flock to warm-weather places in Florida, Arizona and California when temperatures drop at residence, making the approaching months a take a look at of whether or not the grassroots boycott will lengthen into one other winter.

READ MORE: Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’: Who will get to determine what goes on maps?

“I’d be surprised if we’re talking a year from now and all of a sudden you see this huge uptick in Canadian travel over the winter months,” Friedland mentioned.

Not all tourism officers are frightened. Jennifer Adams, tourism director for the Destin-Fort Walton Beach space in Florida’s Panhandle, mentioned she by no means panicked when headlines about Canadians shunning journey to the U.S. first appeared final yr.

“I felt our message was strong,” she mentioned, including that, “the thing for us is to let the Canadian family know that they are welcomed here and we are committed to giving them a great experience when they get here.”

Florida noticed a 7% decline in Canadian guests in 2025 in comparison with the earlier yr, in response to state advertising group Visit Florida. Sister group Visit California, citing knowledge from international analysis and consulting firm Tourism Economics, estimated that Canadian visitation to the Golden State fell 20%.

For some Canadians, a promise of a very good trip is not sufficient

Loewen, the Vancouver advertising govt, mentioned his household beloved visiting the United States. He, his spouse and their two kids typically traveled to San Diego, Portland and Seattle. This yr, they selected Mexico as a substitute.

The reluctance, Loewen mentioned, has little to do with whether or not the U.S. can supply a very good trip. It’s about whether or not Canadians wish to spend their cash there whereas tensions between their nation and the U.S. stay so excessive. Loewen mentioned his household hasn’t stepped foot within the U.S. since Trump’s inauguration and does not plan to till there is a new president.

Eileen March, a life coach from Calgary, mentioned she made an analogous determination. Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state and his commerce insurance policies have been a part of it, as was a broader sense of not feeling secure or welcome within the United States, March mentioned.

“As time has worn on, I was beginning to waver,” she mentioned. The newest spherical of tariffs “reinforced my initial decision to not travel in the U.S. at all while he is in office.” She refuses even to guide flights with layovers within the U.S.

March, 41, is aware of that staying away for 4 years is a very long time. She is ready to go even longer.

“I think that’ll really depend on who is elected next, their values and the relationship they attempt to foster or repair with Canada,” she mentioned.