Why some travelers avoid the United States

As the list of nations issuing travel warnings in the United States, some visitors choose to boycott it entirely. Here is why many foreigners change their travel plans and what it could mean for the Americans.

The cold shoulder was particularly visible from the neighbor in the northern United States, Canada, which sends more than 20 million visitors in the country per year – more than any other nation. In response to Trump’s proposal price and repeated threats to Annex the nationFormer Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently urged his Canadian compatriots: “It is now time to choose Canada”, adding, “it could mean changing your summer holiday plans to stay here in Canada.”

The call seems to have made its way, because many furious Canadians are now We boycott the holidays. In February, border crossings decreased by more than 20%, According to Statistics Canada. The US Travel Association estimates that even a 10% reduction in Canadian visitors could lead to $ 2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses.

While some Canadians snub the United States due to political changes, others say that they simply do not feel as safe as it was.

“My partner and I decided not to go ahead with our vacation planned in the United States this year,” said Kate Dingwall, Canadian travel journalist. “I worry about the border and get stuck in one way or another, especially with the way Trump is thorn in Canada. There is just a feeling of discomfort around the visit of America at the moment.”

Keith Serry, writer and actor based in Montreal, Quebec, canceled five appearances in April in New York (including four shows during the next time New York Fringe Festival) due to the tense political situation.

“This decision will, of course, deprive myself of the opportunity to share my art with many of you in New York that I got to know and love,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “That said, the honest truth is that I just don’t feel safe to travel to the United States at the moment.

In recent months, some Canadians have faced the safety of stricter border than ever before – even those with own files and valid documents. A woman made the headlines of international newspapers as She was owned by ice for two weeks under dark conditions after a revocation of his visa.

“We are a country that prides itself, imperfectly but intentionally, on values ​​such as inclusion, equity and human rights. World Economic Forum. “The political climate raises wider questions. What type of treatment do we standardize? What hypotheses are made on who is welcome and who is not?”

It is not that Canadians do not travel internationally; Many simply exchange their traditional destinations. Marouf says that Mexico, South America and Europe all feel more welcoming at the moment. “California will be there when everything is finished, but I have the impression that there is less risks in Portugal instead,” added Dingwall.

Some international properties have seen a bump in traffic, directly attributable to Canadians, rejects the United States. “In the past few weeks, we have received more than 10 tracks and more from Canadians seeking to move events in the United States this summer,” said Diarmaid O’Sullivan, director of sales and marketing at Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club Bermuda. “This is a mixture of leisure travelers, including those that provide weddings, and businesses outsourcing commercial events. This represents an increase of approximately 20% of planned revenues on the Canadian market.”

Interestingly, all of this occurs just like the United States had recorded record growth in the travel and tourism sector. Marta Solingo, professor at UNLV and director of tourism research at the UNLV economic development office, underlines the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) 2024 report on economic impact trendsshown the United States as the world’s cheese market and tourism. Not only has the industry achieved an unprecedented economic impact of 2.36 TN in the United States, but the projections of the American Labor Statistics Office indicate that the US economy will add more than 800,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector.

“Such figures help us to understand the importance of the sector in the United States, showing that a decrease in tourism from countries of higher origin could considerably damage the US economy,” said Soldo. “The consequences of these problems can have an impact on large American companies, such as hotel chains and small businesses.”

Change in travel models already has a tangible effect on the American economy. Tourism economy Recently updated its incoming American travel forecasts of planned growth of 8.8%, a decrease of 5.1%, attributing the change to the feeling of “tense” travel, scanning prices “and” exchange rate changes “making travel in the United States more expensive.

“The combination of travel prohibitions and a reduction in American trips may have a material impact on tourism and economic development,” said Jeff the former assistant secretary of the California State and Federal Coordinator of the State during the first Trump administration.

In California alone, international visitors provided more than $ 24 billion in local economies in 2023, reports. “The loss of this would probably harm both people and local government funds,” he said. “It is more difficult to measure the loss of reputation, but I cannot imagine an active boycott help.”

Although the large impact of the boycott of travel in the United States can have significant national and governmental effects, some defenders’ defense organizations also warn that the loss of tourist dollars is most likely to be felt by individuals.

“These are American workers and small businesses who are affected by American travel boycotts,” said Thomas F Goodwin, chief of Alliance of exhibitions and conferences. Goodwin notes that more than 99% of the American industry for commercial and professional events is made up of small businesses, and more than 80% of all exhibitors are small American and international businesses. “When international commercial travelers renounce the United States, everyone, manufacturers of exhibition stands and general services, site caterers and individual skilled workers are suffering – not politicians or government. Boycotts have a training effect on hotels, taxis, restaurants, local artists, street trade and even more.”

There is also a cost that is more difficult to quantify: the global influence of American culture.

“The figures for downward visitors to the United States send a signal that the United States loses its soft power-the influence it has formerly owned by the opening, cultural leaders and global goodwill,” said Neri Karra Sillaman, Entrepreneurship Experturers at the University of Oxford and author of the Pioneers: 8 principles of the longevity of companies of immigrant entrepreneurs. “If this trend continues, it can force tourism councils or even local governments to create stories to win back confidence. I do not know if it will be effective, however, because at the end of the day, it is the government policies that give the final management and influence.”

Sillaman notes that travel boycotts also have a long -term cost for culture, economics and global innovation. “When academics, scientists, artists, designers and entrepreneurs are starting to choose other countries instead of us, the United States loses more than simple visitors,” she said. “In the long term, it will lose its competitiveness, its good will and it will turn into a closed society which stifles growth and innovation.”

This human impact of boycotts also appears in a multitude of ways, noted Missouri’s lawyer John Beck. “I have worked with hundreds of non-citizens in the past 15 years and I have seen in the first hand how policies between governments can lead to individuals-regular travelers, students, families-being caught in the middle,” he said. “It is rarely about politics. These are missed weddings, commercial losses or not to be able to visit a dying parent.”

Beck says he has worked with at least 80 customers who have delayed or canceled travel due to real or perceived hostility in recent years. This causes complications with divided families, international companies that cannot move talent quickly and have lost business due to the lack of facility. Even if the geopolitical issues are raised, there is a human aspect on both sides of the border.

“Most Americans have little to do with policies that frustrate world travelers,” he said. “They just want security, equity and dignity. This is what we have to protect.”