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EXPLORE FURTHER: Business in a Canadian Border Town Attributes Closure to Tariff Dispute
Canadians are opting out of U.S. getaways and are flocking to the sun-kissed shores of Mexico as an alternative.
Numerous Canadians have eagerly participated in this activity.
protest against U.S. products and services
Following President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian products and his threats to
incorporate the country as part of the ’51st state.’
For many years, Canadians have topped the list of international visitors to the U.S., contributing $20.5 billion in expenditures last year.
But
Air travel from Canada to the United States decreased by 13.5 percent in March.
compared to a year earlier, and those crossing the border by car fell by more than 30 percent, data from Statistics Canada revealed.
By contrast, Canadian visits to Mexico rose by 15.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year, according to the Mexican Secretary of Tourism.
‘I think they are choosing more friendly policies,’ Mexico’s tourism secretary Josefina Rodríguez Zamora
told the Financial Times
.
Rodríguez said the recent turmoil created by the US has made Canada and Mexico – who always had a strong relationship – ‘more like brotherhood.’
Mexicans are also
pulling back on travel to America
, with flights down by almost a quarter last month compared to 2024, according to the US Department of Commerce.
The travel advisor McKenzie McMillan informed the Financial Times that his customers intend to replace their beach vacations in California and Florida with trips to Cancún and Cabo, provided that Trump remains in office.
Macmillan stated that this tendency is expected to persist since the Canadian boycott against the U.S. continues to escalate.
The shift has led
holiday destinations like Palm Springs to launch campaigns
To attempt to attract back the Canadian visitors upon which businesses rely.
Airlines have had to change their strategies by reducing flights to US destinations and boosting frequencies to Mexican alternatives instead.
On Friday, Air Canada announced that their flights between Canada and the United States experienced a 7 percent decline during the first quarter of the year.
As a result, the airline has revised downward its profit forecasts for the entire year and introduced a new direct service to Guadalajara.
The firm based in Montreal announced that it would boost the number of flights to locations like Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta during the winter season.
A lot of Canadians, referred to as snowbirds, used to migrate to more temperate regions like Florida and California for relief from the severe winters in their home country, often nicknamed the Great White North.
Nevertheless, disappointment with their southern counterparts has caused some individuals to feel disenchanted.
Canadians rencana to offload their ideal US getaway properties.
Between March 2024 and March 2025, Canadian users arranged for 27 percent more accommodations in Mexico via Airbnb.
In the meantime, reservations made by Canadians through the short-term rental platform in the US experienced a 12 percent decline.
‘Visitation to the United States is tacit approval of their policies,’ one Canadian who recently cancelled a trip to the US wrote on Reddit.
‘Why would I spend my dollars supporting a hostile regime that aims to destroy the lives of me and my family?’
Another boycotter wrote: ‘I am only too pleased to help contribute to the steep decline in their tourism industry, whatever the state or region may have voted for.’
‘It’s cheaper to go to Mexico most of the time,’ a third agreed.
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