This Viewpoint falls into the “I never thought I would be writing about this” category. But these are strange times, indeed.
A recent episode of “The Folo” by Travel Weekly examined the deterioration of the tourism relationship between the United States and Canada. (Note: Travel Weekly is owned by Northstar Travel Group, the parent company of TravelAge West.) To summarize the conflict, President Trump’s tariffs and comments about “annexing” Canada and making it the 51st state have made some Canadians reconsider visiting the U.S.
I think that it’s being greatly underestimated just how angry Canadians are as a consumer base right now, and how emotional of an issue this is.
On the podcast, McKenzie McMillan, a travel advisor at Vancouver-based The Travel Group, shared that it’s not enough for U.S. companies to say they support Canadian clients — they need to say where they stand on the topics that are the root cause of the conflict.
“I think that it’s being greatly underestimated just how angry Canadians are as a consumer base right now, and how emotional of an issue this is,” McMillan said.
He explained that this is an existential conflict for many Canadians, and it is already having an impact on travel. A recent survey says that 56% of Canadians will reconsider travel to the U.S. in the future.
“We have a few corporate clients who are still traveling to the United States, but about 95% of our leisure business just evaporated overnight,” McMillan said.
So, here’s the part that I never imagined having to write: TravelAge West stands solidly in support of Canadian sovereignty. We value the close relationship the U.S. has always had with Canada, and we do not approve of any statements or actions that disrespect its citizens.
Canadians were the top international visitors to the U.S. in 2024. I can only hope that this madness ends quickly, and is looked back on one day as nothing more than an idiotic blip in our shared history.
