(NewsNation) — The World Travel and Tourism Council has projected a $12 billion drop in visitor travel spending in the U.S. compared to last year.
To combat that, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state tourism officials are looking to bring Canadian tourists to California with a new tourism campaign called “California loves Canada.” The state has seen about a 20% drop in Canadian visitors so far this year in what Newsom calls a “Trump slump,” pointing to faltering relations between the U.S. and Canada.
According to the governor’s office, in 2024, California welcomed nearly 2 million Canadian visitors, who spent an estimated $3.72 billion, helping to fuel its economy. In a partnership between the state and Expedia, the new tourism campaign includes a “Canada Value Program” with major discounts on various attractions and hotels.
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Some Canadians pointed to high costs as a factor in staying away from the U.S., but even with the deals, they say they will continue to boycott due to political tensions and crime.
“A lot of the nice states to go to, I would just avoid, like California looks like it’s even worse with the homeless encampments than Ontario, that just looks dangerous,” Toronto-area resident John told NewsNation. “Florida is being run by a bunch of nutcases. And New York looks like it’s in worse shape than Toronto when it comes to all the homeless encampments, I mean, like Philadelphia looks awful, Pittsburgh doesn’t look good. I mean, where would we go?”
The hit to tourism is not limited to California. In April, the number of Canadians making return road trips from all checkpoints along the northern U.S. border was down by more than 35% compared to last year. Those returning from the U.S. by plane saw a drop of nearly 20%.
Despite family ties and the long, friendly history between the U.S. and Canada, the outlook is not looking better, with future flight bookings by Canadians to all U.S. destinations down a third.
