Tourism boost? Canadians avoid U.S., Americans still plan to head north

The local tourism industry is hopeful for a double boost this summer, as many Canadians have made it clear they are avoiding the U.S., while it appears Americans still want to travel north.

Last month, 2.2 million Canadians crossed the land border into the U.S. — a drop of about 500,000 people compared to February of 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

That is the lowest monthly number since April 2022 when some COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, and it represents a 23 per cent decline, with indications there was a significant drop when economic and political tensions between Canada and the U.S. started to rise.

But, it seems Americans have no qualms about travelling north to Canada.

Destination BC tells CityNews that booked flights from the U.S. for the peak summer tourism season are up compared to a year ago.

When you combine that with an expected bump in domestic travel as many Canadians avoid the U.S., the tourism industry is hopeful.

“Things are looking very good. We are optimistic about it,” said JJ Belanger, chair of the Tourism Industry Association of BC.

The provincial tourism industry predicts a 10 per cent increase in business this summer compared to last year, due to the double boost.

“I think Canadians are going to travel more in Canada, similar to when we had the pandemic and Tofino became Hawaii for Canadians,” Belanger said.

“However, you wake up every morning not sure what today is going to look like, depending on the news you see, so things can change on a daily basis.”

Much depends on the economy and how the trade war with the U.S. will impact personal finances on either side of the border.

With files from Jack Morse and Sofia Vavaroutsos.