Canadian Tourism To U.S. Down 33% In June—Billions In Losses

Forbes

2 days ago

Last month saw one-third fewer Canadians visiting the U.S. by car compared to June 2024—as Canada propels international tourism declines to an expected overall economic loss of $29 billion in 2025.
One third fewer Canadians traveled to the US by car in June, cementing ar huge economic loss for ... More American tourism industry. getty
The volume of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the means by which most Canadians visit—dropped by 33% last month compared to June 2024, according to new data from Statistics Canada, following a 38% drop in May.
There was also a 22% decline in air travelers from Canada year-over-year.June was the sixth consecutive month of steep declines in inbound Canadian travel, including double-digit year-over-year drops in car travel and air travel to the U.S. every month since April.
Travel in the other direction is also down, as fewer Americans traveled to Canada in June compared to last year, with car travel down 10% last month—down slightly from an 8% drop in May, per Statistics Canada data.
Last year, Canadian tourists made up roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers who came to the United States, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), collectively spend $20.5 billion in 2024—nearly double the $10.4 billion Americans spent at McDonald's over the same period. The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) warned in February that even a 10% drop in Canadian inbound tourism could translate to a $2.1 billion in lost spending and 140,000 jobs jeopardized in the hospitality and related sectors—and the new data suggest those losses will be exponentially larger.
In early February, when President Donald Trump began talking about tariffs and started referring to Canada as 'the 51st state,' then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians not to spend vacation dollars in the U.S., and he repeated that call to action until he left office in April. Three-quarters of Canadians who had previously planned a trip to the U.S. say the tariff announcements influenced their plans. Over half (56%) of those who had been planning to visit the U.S. have since decided to travel elsewhere, according to a survey by Leger Marketing of over 1,500 Canadian adults fielded mid-May. Ongoing headlines in multiple news outlets of more than 50 Canadian tourists being detained at the U.S. border have driven Charlie Angus, a recently retired minister in Canada's House of Commons, to call for his government to 'do the right thing and issue a travel warning to any Canadian about the threats they might face from the United States government?' and calling the U.S. 'a nation that has no respect for individual rights or the rule of law.' U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment, instead directing Forbes to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). What About International Tourists From Other Countries?
The U.S. is looking at a significant 9% drop in U.S. international arrivals for 2025, and a drop of $8.5 billion (-4.7%) in international visitor spending relative to last year, according to the latest forecast from Tourism Economics, a nonpartisan Oxford Economics company tracking tourism statistics. But the true damage is actually twice as 'catastrophic' because 2025 was supposed to be a big growth year for international tourism, Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, previously told Forbes. The U.S. was projected to see a $16.3 billion increase in tourism revenue from international markets and now is facing losses of up to $12.5 billion—for a combined forecasted loss of up to $29 billion. Further Reading
U.S. Tourism Will Lose Up To $29 Billion As Visitors Plummet Amid Trump Policies (Forbes)
U.S. Now 'Flyover' Country For Canadians—Who Are Traveling To Mexico, Caribbean Instead (Forbes)