Canadian travel to U.S. slumps amid Trump tariffs, other factors
Canadians' return travel from trips to the U.S. has fallen sharply, 23% by car in February compared with the same month last year.
Forecasts call for even sharper declines in air travel between Canada and the U.S. this summer. An economic research firm warns that the impact on Michigan could be sizable.
Canadian travelers make up nearly 60% of international visits to Michigan, as compared with less than 30% of international visits to the U.S. according to Tourism Economics in an email to the Free Press. That means a loss of visitation from Canada could be particularly impactful to Michigan.
In February, Canadian residents made roughly 1.2 million return trips from the U.S. by car, a 23% drop compared with the year before.
Last month, Canadian residents primarily returned from U.S. border crossings to Ontario (59% of car trips), followed by British Columbia (19%), according to data from Statistics Canada.
Tom Nemacheck, executive director at the Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association, told the Free Press their warm weather marketing is underway. Yet, Canadian residents' response has declined substantially from prior years. It is too early to know the impact on local lodging this year, he said, but "it will be very noticeable."
More: US requires registration, fingerprints for long-term travelers. What Canada is saying
Canadian residents flew back from 585,700 trips to the U.S. last month — a 13% decline compared with February 2024. Future flight booking data for passenger trips from Canada to U.S. has plummeted by nearly three-quarters compared with the same time period last year, according to OAG, an aviation analytics firm.
Tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the Mitten state. Last year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of nearly 430,000 people held jobs in Michigan's leisure and hospitality sector. From April to June 2024, about 153,000 Canadian adults traveled to Michigan for at least one overnight stay, according to preliminary data from Statistics Canada. The data doesn't account for day-trippers.
Nearly 20 million Canadian residents, ages 18 years and older, traveled to the U.S. in 2023 for at least one overnight stay, and just over half a million visited Michigan. In 2023, Canadian visitors spent roughly $237.8 million in Michigan communities, according to the state.
Michigan ranks 8th, tied with Arizona for the number of visits from adult Canadian residents. According to the latest annual data from Statistics Canada, Florida and New York saw the most travelers, 2.9 million and 2.1 million, respectively.
Statewide, about 128.3 million people visited Michigan in 2023, resulting in $53.2 billion in total economic impact to Michigan's economy, according to 2023 data shared by the state's tourism agency.
Contact Kristi Tanner: ktanner@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Canadian travel to U.S. slumps amid Trump tariffs, other factors
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