California governor urges Canadians to visit

The U.S. Travel Association says a 30 per cent drop in Canadian tourists could lead to $6 billion in losses for the U.S. economy. Pat Foran reports.

As Canadians continue to avoid travelling to the United States due to ongoing tensions regarding trade, tariffs and the current political climate, the Governor of California has launched an international tourism campaign urging Canadians to visit his state this summer.

From the iconic Hollywood sign to the Walk of Fame, to beaches and vineyards, California has long been a favourite spot for Canadians to travel.

But, perhaps not this year.

A drop in tourists from north of the border has California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, concerned enough to put out a video encouraging Canadians to make the trip.

“California, it’s the ultimate playground. 2,000 miles away from Washington and a world away in mindset,” said Newsom in the video post.

According to a new survey by the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA), 70 per cent of Canadians say they are unlikely to visit the U.S. this year.

Car travel over the U.S. border has also dropped by 32 per cent in March, according to Statistics Canada.

The dip comes following U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments referring to Canada as the “51st state" as well as his recently imposed tariffs on imports.

“The political environment is starting to impact the places (Canadians) want to travel,” said Will McAleer, Executive Director with THIA.

McAleer told CTV News there are multiple reasons why Canadians are avoiding U.S. travel, including to support Canada during the tariff disputes, current U.S. political leadership, and because some consider the Canadian dollar too weak.

According to Flight Centre, as Canadians cancel their trips to the U.S., travel airlines are also cutting flights and instead moving them to international destinations.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of months a 40 per cent decrease in the number of Canadians travelling to the United States as well as a significant number of cancellations of trips that were already there,” said Andrew Stafford, travel expert with Flight Centre Canada.

Canadians are also looking for the best value and according to Flight Centre, there are savings to be had flying to destinations outside the U.S.

It says the top spots Canadians are visiting include Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Costa Rica and Colombia.

Many are destinations where the Canadian dollar also has more buying power.

“It’s a conversation we have all the time. Where does the dollar stretch further,” said Stafford.

Some Canadians may still decide to visit the U.S. this year, but as more choose to go elsewhere, you can expect to see more ads like California’s campaign.

“Here in California, we’ve got a whole lot of sunshine and a whole lot of love for our neighbours up north,” said Newsom in his video.

And it’s not just Canadians, statistics show visitors to the U.S. from Western Europe also dropped by 17 per cent and travel from some countries including Ireland, Norway and Germany dropped by more than 20 per cent.