Canadians go back on the trips of the United States, threatening to expand the travel deficit

The Canadians are jumping trips to the United States and visitors from other countries could soon continue to threaten to deepen the travel deficit of $ 50 billion from the United States.

Experts say that they are withdrawing for a variety of reasons, ranging from an unfavorable currency exchange rate to the political climate of the United States, given the commercial policies of President Donald Trump and his public statements about Canada, as well as in high profile detainees of people who already had visas to be in the US.

He attended to comment on Friday, a White House spokesman said by email that “everyone wants to come to the America of President Trump.”

Canadians “will no longer have to endure the inconveniences of international trips when Canada becomes our state 51” and that “Europeans are eager to enjoy the Golden Age of the United States if they wish,” said the spokesman.

In response to President Trump's rates plans at that time, former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau urged the Canadians last month to “choose Canada” and suggested “changing their summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations that our great country has to offer.”

Cross -border travel trends and Trump administration policies are worrying some in the United States travel industry, which attracts more than $ 1 billion in direct expenses per year.

The United States Travel Association said in a statement to CNBC that there is a matter of the welcome from the United States, a slowdown of the US economy and recent security concerns.

“These challenges are a real action and demand decisive,” said the organization, whose members include large hotel groups, airlines and other important travel companies, adding that “he actively works with the White House and Congress to advance the policies that promote economic expansion and keep the United States competitive on the global scenario.”

There are billions of dollars on the line. The people of the United States already travel abroad and spend more in other countries that in the United States brings from foreign travelers.

Last year, the United States's travel deficit was more than $ 51 billion, which means that Americans spent much more abroad than foreigners who visited the US.

The United States brought more than 72 million visitors last year, even below the levels prior to CO-COVID, according to a Jefferies report. The visitors of Canada were the largest group, which represents 28%, followed by Mexico with 23%, the bank said in a note this month.

The trips and tourism of incoming visitors are counted as US exports, and represented about 8% of exports of US goods and services, according to the Department of Commerce.

International visitors from abroad are especially important because they tend to stay longer and spend more money than local tourists, according to the United States Travel Association.

Both air trips and land crosses between the United States and Canada are low.

In February, the return flights from Canadians to Canada fell 13% during the past year, while the return trips fell 23% according to Statistics Canada.

The hotel demand in some area along the border with Canada-United States is also low. As of March 15, they were out of 8% in Bellingham, Washington, and 3.5% in the Niagara cataracts area, according to the data firm of the Hotel Str. However, the demand throughout Florida, a main destination for Canadian travelers, has increased 3% last year, the firm said.

Canadian airlines are cutting some routes and flights to the US.

The style of the Canadian airline, for example, said he canceled his toronto planned to the Nashville route, Tennessee,.

“Our network decisions are driven only by consumer demand: we implement our aircraft where demand is stronger to provide the lowest rates to most travelers,” said a spokeswoman for the airline by email.

The Canadian airline Westjet said that it has seen Canadian customers change the reserves of the United States to other popular destinations of Sunseeker such as Mexico and the Caribbean.

“The airline is still focused on knowing where people want to go, and we will continue flying where there is demand,” said a spokeswoman.

The change occurs when travel executives have warned about the weakest reserves of what is expected for domestic trips in the United States, which means that more local tourism may not be able to compensate for the fall in Trans Bordes trips. Although the credit card and debit card in the United States increased 1.5% last year as of March 22, the airline spending fell by 7.2%, according to a Bank of America report this week.

United Airlines The CEO Scott Kirby, for example, said at a conference of investors earlier this month that the carrier is cutting the routes in part because he is seeing “a large number of transfers, a great fall in Canadian traffic to go to the United States”, as well as a strong fall in flights that had previously attended to trips tied to the United States government.

Lara Harbachian, who works for a digital printing company in Montreal, and eight friends (so far) had been considering several US destinations this year to celebrate their 40th birthday: San Diego; Palm Springs, California; Savannah, Georgia; or Nashville. The winner was more to the east: Barcelona, ​​Spain.

While flights to Europe were more expensive than those of the United States destinations, Harbachian said it will be cheaper for her and her friends to visit the popular Spanish city, where they will not need to rent a car and meals and high -end hotels are cheaper, especially with a weaker Canadian dollar on the green back.

“I can get a food of 15 euros, but I can't get a meal of $ 15” in the United States, he said.

Trump at the beginning of this month created a working group for the FIFA 2026 World Cup that the United States is organizing coanfitations with Mexico and Canada to “show the pride and hospitality of the nation while promoting economic growth and tourism through sport.”

Another challenge for the US travel industry. This year is a growing number of travel warnings about visiting the United States. Until now, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Finland have issued travel warnings for their citizens who plan to go to the United States.

Those were driven by arrests even of people who had visas to be in the United States, as well as in Trump's executive order that the country would only recognize two biological sexes, which caused concerns of governments in Europe about travelers whose passports indicate a different genre than they were born.

For example, Germany said that “travelers with the” X “gender entry or whose current gender entry differs from their birth date, must contact the United States responsible mission in Germany before entering the country to find out about the applicable entry requirements.”

Travel warnings “could deter international visitors, especially travelers for the first time,” said Carolin Lusby, an assistant tourism professor in the management of hospitality and tourism at the Hospitality and Tourism School of Florida International University.

She said that there is often a rebound after an incident or tragedy occurs, such as after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. “But many times we know that once a destination image changes, much effort is needed to recover confidence,” he said.

“In terms of economic consequences, that could become billions of lost dollars,” he added.