Joe Koenen has not seen a single Toronto Blue Jays baseball hat all summer time.
Typically, Canadians will flood the streets of Seattle through the summer time, however Koenen, who runs Seattle Free Walking Tours (the place individuals pay what they’ll), stated Canadian vacationers are virtually gone. Streets look emptier to him.
Canadians calling to cancel their excursions “explicitly told me that it was because of the policies and the behavior of our current president,” he stated.
As a results of seeing 30% fewer prospects this 12 months total, Koenen has been paying his workers however not himself. This can also be the primary 12 months since he took over the tour firm in 2021 that he has had to put his personal financial savings into the enterprise to hold it afloat.
“I am super-duper angry. I’m also disappointed, but I’m more sad … it’s such a self-inflicted injury,” Koenen stated.
Another Seattle tour operator, John Brink, stated “usually you kill it that weekend,” referring to the annual May sequence between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. But the foot visitors wasn’t there this 12 months. The Blue Jays are Canada’s solely Major League Baseball staff, so whereas the staff relies in Toronto, many followers from Western Canada passionately sport their Blue Jays gear once they come to Seattle every summer time.
Brink’s firm, Tasty Tours, which guides guests by way of meals stalls within the historic Pike Place Market, has seen a 50% drop in Canadian prospects.
Many Canadians have boycotted taking US trips and shopping for American merchandise because the spring. That’s when President Trump made false claims and belittling comments about Canada within the midst of a tariff conflict.
The absence of Canadians has been felt acutely within the United States, particularly in cities like Seattle close to the northern border. And Canadians aren’t the one worldwide vacationers skipping the US. Some different worldwide vacationers have additionally named latest insurance policies round tariffs and immigration as causes they’re staying away.
After a promising estimate in December by analytics firm Tourism Economics that the US would see about 9% development in total worldwide visitation in 2025, the corporate’s up to date outlook now estimates an 8.2% decline, led by about one quarter fewer Canadians visiting the US from January to July, in contrast to the identical interval in 2024.
The World Travel and Tourism Council, a world tourism advocacy group, projected in May that the United States will lose $12.5 billion in worldwide customer spending in 2025, the one nation out of 184 economies the council analyzed that may see a decline this 12 months.
And that ache may stretch past this 12 months. Rob Hawkins, from the United Kingdom, modified plans he and his spouse had for a 20-day spring 2026 journey to the US to go to South Korea and Japan as an alternative.
“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 informed NCS in an e mail. “Not the army on the streets and the extreme division currently on show,” he stated, referring to the National Guard presence in Los Angeles throughout immigration raids and in Washington D.C. to take federal management of the native police pressure.
The Hawkins’ choice to keep away from the US for now could be one echoed throughout social media by others around the globe.
“It’s unheard of,” stated Didier Arino, normal director of journey consulting agency Protourisme in France, about an unprecedented drop in curiosity for journey to the US.
“It’s happened before in a country at war, in a country where there was a security risk, or risk of health crisis, but in a normal situation, we’ve never seen this kind of turnaround,” Arino told NCS in the spring.
Beyond citing fears of being questioned on the border, or normal opposition to the Trump administration’s insurance policies, guests from some international locations at the moment are going through an added upfront value of $250 for a brand new “visa integrity fee.”
“This is a wake-up call for the U.S. government. The world’s biggest Travel & Tourism economy is heading in the wrong direction, not because of a lack of demand, but because of a failure to act,” stated Julia Simpson, World Travel and Tourism Council president & CEO, in an announcement.
“While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign … This is about growth in the U.S. economy — it is doable, but it needs leadership from DC,” Simpson stated.
For Brink, the Tasty Tours proprietor in Seattle, American cruise ship passengers coming by way of the town have considerably offset the loss in worldwide vacationers.
Still, “I personally think without the tariffs and the rhetoric and all that nonsense that we would all have made way much more money this year,” Brink stated.
Adam Duford, proprietor of Surf City Tours in Santa Monica, California, has been feeling the ache of a tourism downturn, too.
“Spring break never happened,” stated Duford. “Memorial Day didn’t happen either.”
Duford’s enterprise of operating 13-passenger van excursions by way of Hollywood, Malibu and Venice, took a dive this 12 months due to geopolitical forces, catastrophic wildfires and misinformation.
He informed NCS that prospects had been calling to cancel as a result of they’d seen a faux picture on social media of the Hollywood signal burning down. (It — and all of Hollywood — remains to be there.) Duford factors to misinformation concerning the January Los Angeles fires, and later, a misperception that protests over immigration raids had taken over the entire metropolis, as examples of why some individuals stayed away.
Overall, his income is down 49% this 12 months. Duford thought this may need been an issue particular to Los Angeles occasions. But he has additionally observed that his typical Canadian buyer base that comes throughout their spring break didn’t present up this 12 months and discovered of companies in different cities additionally hurting from lack of vacationers.
“It’s hard to be angry, because it’s not just me,” he stated. “For all the promises of a good economy — and maybe people were thinking, ‘we’ll sacrifice some culture war things for this good economy that’s going to come from this administration.’ It doesn’t seem like that’s happening.”
Prior to the most recent challenges, worldwide tourism to the United States had but to totally get better after the pandemic. Last 12 months, the 72.4 million guests from different international locations represented 91% of pre-pandemic 2019 figures, in accordance to the US National Travel and Tourism Office.
Tourism Economics, which tracks knowledge on home and worldwide tourism, now initiatives {that a} full restoration to pre-pandemic ranges gained’t occur till 2029 — three years later than it initially projected.
Domestic tourism has not been sturdy sufficient to make up for the loss, in accordance to Tourism Economics.
Canadians turning away from the US is especially worrisome.
More Canadians go to the US than guests from some other nation, in accordance to the National Travel and Tourism Office. Canadians made up about 28% of whole worldwide customer arrivals in 2024.
Instead of going to the United States, “we’re seeing Canadian travel begin to lift toward Mexico, to the Caribbean, even toward Europe in recent data,” stated Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics.
“I do think once we turn into the colder months … it would be difficult to sustain this sort of drop. I think that there will be a bit of a bounce. But as long as the rhetoric around this — like Canada becoming a 51st state — as long as that continues, I think you’re going to see a pretty ongoing reaction from Canadians.”
Airlines have adjusted by altering routes that had been sure for the US. There had been about 90,200 fewer airline seats accessible to guide from Canada to the US from April 1 to June 30, in contrast to the identical quarter final 12 months, in accordance to knowledge from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
It’s no surprise that Koenen and Brink are seeing so few Canadians in Seattle: Tourism Economics estimates Seattle will lose greater than 1 / 4 of its worldwide guests this 12 months, largely due to Canadians staying away.
“That’s really a hard thing. I think what we see as our opportunity is to just stand and be ready to welcome our friends from Canada back when the time is right. The time is not right yet,” stated Michael Woody, chief technique officer for Visit Seattle.
Mike Mondello, who owns “Made in Washington” shops within the Seattle area that includes merchandise by native artists and producers, stated he realized through the spring information cycle that “this is going to be a different year.”
Without a doubt, he stated the “softening” of enterprise at his downtown retailer has been disappointing. But Mondello stated “time heals all.”
“You won’t wake up on a Monday and say, ‘Wow, things have changed.’ It’ll keep inching its way back, I’m pretty sure,” Mondello stated.
Woody believes there is a chance with the FIFA World Cup in 2026, when his advertising and marketing staff in Seattle might be collaborating with Destination Vancouver. Seattle and Vancouver are the second-closest geographical grouping of any of the FIFA host cities, and match schedules have been aligned in order that spectators can simply journey to see video games on either side of the border.
Woody expects about 750,000 individuals flowing in and out of Seattle over the three-week interval of these video games.
Still, Sacks from Tourism Economics warns that throughout the US, the estimated bump in World Cup guests in 2026 won’t be sufficient to overcome the harm finished this 12 months.
Canadians have additionally pulled again from different favourite locations throughout the nation, together with Orlando, house to the nation’s largest cluster of theme parks.
Canadian air arrivals to Orlando had been down by way of May and advance lodge bookings slowed noticeably since April, in accordance to Casandra Matej, Visit Orlando president and CEO. But different guests from the UK, Brazil and Mexico have nonetheless been coming in regular numbers.
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, informed NCS he just lately returned from a gross sales mission in Vancouver. These are routine journeys for his staff, however Hill stated he personally needed to attend this time to hear from greater than 100 tour operators and journey brokers concerning the sentiment in Canada.
What he heard was not stunning: A sure portion of Canadians won’t go to the US proper now on precept.
“Trying to get them to overcome that too significantly, I don’t think works very well,” Hill stated. “What we told them is, you know, we’re here when you’re ready. We hope you’re ready soon.”
Las Vegas has seen a drop in each home and worldwide vacationers. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s newest knowledge accessible from January to July 2025, exhibits total customer quantity is down 8% in contrast to the identical interval the 12 months earlier than.
Hill stated different worldwide vacationers have nonetheless are available comparatively secure numbers. He additionally believes there might be extra Canadians returning within the fall and winter once they have a tendency to escape the chilly and get pleasure from hockey season in Las Vegas.
Both Tourism Economics and a number of cities’ tourism bureaus informed NCS that they urgently want Congress to totally fund Brand USA, a public-private partnership that heads a globally coordinated advertising and marketing effort to promote the US as a premier journey vacation spot. In July, Congress lowered federal matching funds for Brand USA from $100 million to $20 million.
Hawkins, the London resident who determined in opposition to his journey subsequent 12 months, stated he hopes the scenario will enhance, in order that he and his spouse can nonetheless journey to Yellowstone and Las Vegas in 2027.
“I look at the hard-working Americans just as I do local business owners here in the U.K.,” Hawkins wrote to NCS, including that he would “hate to see them suffer” due to authorities choices.
“I wouldn’t care what political affiliation the owners would have, as I find if you take politics out of any conversation (which I do often), you are pretty much going to have good stuff in common with people.”
Vivian Song contributed to this report.