The travel industry went through a massive upheaval after Covid-19 and businesses had to abruptly shut down overnight. However, small businesses in the US aren’t seeing a recovery in business even after Covid-19. The numbers seem tepid and some are partly blaming that on the current President Donald Trump and his policies pertaining to tariffs, in addition to his rhetoric. In their opinion, it’s hurting local American businesses by turning international tourists away. In contrast, domestic travel isn’t doing enough to make up for that lost demand.
“Trump tariffs & rhetoric causing damage”
As per this article by CNN, border states with Canada are facing a massive backlash, resulting in a massive drop in inbound tourists from the country. Some Seattle based tour operators shared their plight.
Typically, Canadians will flood the streets of Seattle during the summer, but Koenen, who runs Seattle Free Walking Tours (where people pay what they can), said Canadian tourists are almost gone. Streets look emptier to him.
Canadians calling to cancel their tours “explicitly told me that it was because of the policies and the behavior of our current president,” he said.
As a result of seeing 30% fewer customers this year overall, Koenen has been paying his employees but not himself. This is also the first year since he took over the tour company in 2021 that he has had to put his own savings into the business to keep it afloat.
Instead of the US, Canadians are heading for the Caribbean or simply heading down south to Mexico for a vacation. In response to the falling demand, airlines are making amends by adjusting inventory.
Airlines have adjusted by changing routes that were bound for the US. There were about 90,200 fewer airline seats available to book from Canada to the US from April 1 to June 30, compared to the same quarter last year, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
The drop in inbound tourists is also impacting the ancillary market adversely as tour guides are seeing customers desert them.
Another Seattle tour operator, John Brink, said “usually you kill it that weekend,” referring to the annual May series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners.
Brink’s company, Tasty Tours, which guides visitors through food stalls in the historic Pike Place Market, has seen a 50% drop in Canadian customers.
Many Canadians have boycotted taking US trips and buying American products since the spring. That’s when President Trump made false claims and belittling comments about Canada in the midst of a tariff war.
The numbers provided by the World Travel and Tourism council are quite staggering to say the least:
- The US is set to lose a total of $12.5 billion in inbound international travel spend in just 2025. It will also make the US the only country out of 184 countries in the world that will see a decline this year.
UK Tourists Looking Elsewhere
A few months back, I wrote about the fact that it was not just Canadians but also Germans that were looking elsewhere when it came to planning a trip to the US. As per CNN, even British tourists are looking for other options.
And that pain could stretch beyond this year. Rob Hawkins, from the United Kingdom, changed plans he and his wife had for a 20-day spring 2026 trip to the US to go to South Korea and Japan instead.
“America to me is rock ‘n roll, NASA, speed, jazz, horses, bourbon, hip hop, dance, MTV (the original), Hollywood, gold medals, innovation, strength, respectful (sic) and apple pie,” Hawkins told CNN in an email. “Not the army on the streets and the extreme division currently on show,” he said, referring to the National Guard presence in Los Angeles during immigration raids and in Washington D.C. to take federal control of the local police force.
Rebuilding Brand USA
The Pundit’s Mantra
Inbound international travel to the US hasn’t yet fully recovered from the Covid-19 lows. Even the 73 million visitors that came in last year only accounted for 90% of the numbers in 2019. Based on current data, analysts project that the US will probably not be able to recover these lost numbers fully until 2029.
Many local tour operators feel that if the current climate persists, things aren’t likely to get better. The upcoming olympics next year now remain their next big hope. But absent of policy correction and a toning down in rhetoric, things could remain rocky for much longer than anticipated.
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Odd. International O&D to the States is up quite a bit this year. Capacity up. Lufthansa reporting very strong demand and specifically said trans-Atlantic a strong point in their latest quarterly report. Airlines keep adding more flights especially to Asia and Europe. But hey, feelings not facts right?
If the Canadians want to boycott the US then we will boycott Canadian Bacon and Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I’m already going out to my backyard and calling ICE to remove any Toronto Blue Jays and Canadian Geese I find.