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U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

CTV News

2 hours ago

CTV News

U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

Canada's airports were bustling in April, but fewer passengers were flying to the United States, a sign that efforts by American destinations to win back Canadian tourists may be falling flat. A new Statistics Canada report found that for the third month in a row, the number of travellers screened to fly from Canada to the U.S. dropped compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, traffic was up for both domestic and international travel. Canadian airlines appear to be pivoting in response. Air Canada recently announced its 'largest winter expansion,' with 13 new routes and 16 per cent more seat capacity to Latin America. The carrier is now offering more than 55 daily flights and over 80,000 weekly seats to the region. WestJet says it's adjusting, too. 'In response to shifting demand, WestJet did recently reallocate aircraft from some routes between Canada and the U.S. toward connectivity and frequency within Canada, internationally between Canada and Europe, and between Canada and popular sun destinations,' the airline said in a written statement to 'WestJet remains engaged with industry partners in conversations focused on lessening long-term impacts on travel and tourism — industries that we know rely on the sustained confidence and movement of people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.' 'California Loves Canada' In an effort to stifle the drop in visitors, some U.S. states have rolled out targeted campaigns aimed specifically at Canadians. Visit California, a nonprofit corporation formed to market California as a desirable tourism destination, teamed up with Expedia to launch the 'California Loves Canada' campaign in May. Organizers say it's been 'resonating with Canadians.' 'As of May 31, Canadian travellers have booked rooms at 1,740 California hotels that are offering exclusive deals for Canadians,' Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, told in an emailed response. 'With most bookings set for travel this summer, we anticipate seeing a real uptick in Canadian arrivals as the year plays out.' Beteta says the campaign is driven by California-based industry partners offering special discounts to Canadians, adding the feedback has been positive. According to Beteta, saw traffic increase by more than five per cent in May, with engagement up nearly 15 per cent. 'Click-through rates from organic search are a whopping 2,800 per cent higher than what we typically see,' she added. Atlantic Canada seeing tourism spike Despite these efforts, one travel agent told that a portion of the market is still hesitant about travelling to the U.S., due to concerns about the border, politics, or just the general vibe. Jason Sarracini, founder and CEO of Landsby, a Canadian domestic travel website, says there may be some cross-border traffic in upstate New York, but his company isn't 'seeing anything meaningful.' However, Sarracini did say one spot within Canada is getting lots of attention. 'Atlantic Canada is the one that's really stood out this year,' Sarracini said. 'It's that destination, which is pretty intimate, gives you a really good sense of the people and the flavour, and is not as expensive as the West Coast and the Rockies in the summer.' Sarracini also stressed the growing importance of Indigenous tourism, which he says is attracting more interest from both Canadian and American travellers. '(Americans) don't necessarily want it to be their entire trip, but they do want components of that educational side, especially those who have maybe been to Canada before,' he said. Calling for accessible Canadian travel Julie Smigadis, owner of Travel Our World agency, says her U.S.-bound bookings have slowed in recent months, with some would-be clients choosing to cancel outright. 'I had a large anniversary trip to Disney cancelled,' she said in a video interview with 'It was an (LGBTQ2S+) couple and they just felt very unsafe and kind of not very welcome. They ended up rebooking into Mexico, even though they lost a little bit of money on the file.' Instead, Smigadis says more of her clients are opting to explore Canada, especially destinations like Banff, Alta., Vancouver, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. But affordability is a challenge, even for domestic trips. 'The pricing and the availability is so crazy,' Smigadis said. 'It's unfortunate because, especially as a travel agency, I do want to show off this gorgeous country of ours and especially in this moment where we come together as Canadians.' She says greater cooperation between governments, airlines and hotels is needed to make Canadian travel more accessible. 'I wish the Canadian companies, Canadian airlines, and Canadian hotels would incentivize Canadians to stay within Canada,' she said. 'There has to be some way for us to make it more accessible — for our dollars to be used here as opposed to going abroad.' Data from Expedia supports the broader trend. According to the company's first-quarter earnings call, Canada's inbound travel to the U.S. was down nearly 30 per cent in the first quarter. 'While we've been seeing recent fluctuations in U.S. search activities, Canadians are still eager to travel and have been rediscovering all the beauty Canada has to offer,' said Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group brands public relations in the company's Summer Travel Outlook. 'This is a very emotional thing' Some American tourism operators say they're feeling the downturn directly. 'This isn't something you solve with a few dollars off. This is a very emotional thing,' said Paul Dame, owner of Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in a video interview with 'The stuff that's being said is just downright not nice to Canadians, and unfortunately, that has definitely put a damper on our business.' Dame's resort, just an hour south of Montreal, typically relies on Canadian visitors. But those numbers are down sharply this year. 'The start of the season, April and May, we were 30 per cent behind last year,' Dame said. 'Lodging reservations were 22 per cent down … I would say about 25 per cent of our regular guests have decided not to return.' He said he's personally reached out to dozens of long-time customers, many of whom have visited for more than a decade. 'They said, 'We love you, we love Bluff Point, but we're not going to be coming back to the United States this year,'' he said. 'That was 49 out of about 130 groups.' The resort is still seeing some large group bookings go through, but individual golfers and day trippers have dropped off drastically. 'We would usually see 25 to 30 cars a day in the parking lot. Now we're seeing one, maybe two,' Dame said, adding the daily golfer is second-guessing a trip to the U.S. Despite the challenges, Dame said he's working on a new outreach video to reconnect with Canadians. 'I hope that we at least start to move in the right direction, so that we can rebuild the greatest cross-border relationship anywhere in the world,' he said. 'We've been friends and partners for decades … it would be great for both sides to just move forward, make amends, and hopefully continue a friendship that was a long time made.'

CTV News

2 hours ago

CTV News

U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

Canada's airports were bustling in April, but fewer passengers were flying to the United States, a sign that efforts by American destinations to win back Canadian tourists may be falling flat. A new Statistics Canada report found that for the third month in a row, the number of travellers screened to fly from Canada to the U.S. dropped compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, traffic was up for both domestic and international travel. Canadian airlines appear to be pivoting in response. Air Canada recently announced its 'largest winter expansion,' with 13 new routes and 16 per cent more seat capacity to Latin America. The carrier is now offering more than 55 daily flights and over 80,000 weekly seats to the region. WestJet says it's adjusting, too. 'In response to shifting demand, WestJet did recently reallocate aircraft from some routes between Canada and the U.S. toward connectivity and frequency within Canada, internationally between Canada and Europe, and between Canada and popular sun destinations,' the airline said in a written statement to 'WestJet remains engaged with industry partners in conversations focused on lessening long-term impacts on travel and tourism — industries that we know rely on the sustained confidence and movement of people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.' 'California Loves Canada' In an effort to stifle the drop in visitors, some U.S. states have rolled out targeted campaigns aimed specifically at Canadians. Visit California, a nonprofit corporation formed to market California as a desirable tourism destination, teamed up with Expedia to launch the 'California Loves Canada' campaign in May. Organizers say it's been 'resonating with Canadians.' 'As of May 31, Canadian travellers have booked rooms at 1,740 California hotels that are offering exclusive deals for Canadians,' Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, told in an emailed response. 'With most bookings set for travel this summer, we anticipate seeing a real uptick in Canadian arrivals as the year plays out.' Beteta says the campaign is driven by California-based industry partners offering special discounts to Canadians, adding the feedback has been positive. According to Beteta, saw traffic increase by more than five per cent in May, with engagement up nearly 15 per cent. 'Click-through rates from organic search are a whopping 2,800 per cent higher than what we typically see,' she added. Atlantic Canada seeing tourism spike Despite these efforts, one travel agent told that a portion of the market is still hesitant about travelling to the U.S., due to concerns about the border, politics, or just the general vibe. Jason Sarracini, founder and CEO of Landsby, a Canadian domestic travel website, says there may be some cross-border traffic in upstate New York, but his company isn't 'seeing anything meaningful.' However, Sarracini did say one spot within Canada is getting lots of attention. 'Atlantic Canada is the one that's really stood out this year,' Sarracini said. 'It's that destination, which is pretty intimate, gives you a really good sense of the people and the flavour, and is not as expensive as the West Coast and the Rockies in the summer.' Sarracini also stressed the growing importance of Indigenous tourism, which he says is attracting more interest from both Canadian and American travellers. '(Americans) don't necessarily want it to be their entire trip, but they do want components of that educational side, especially those who have maybe been to Canada before,' he said. Calling for accessible Canadian travel Julie Smigadis, owner of Travel Our World agency, says her U.S.-bound bookings have slowed in recent months, with some would-be clients choosing to cancel outright. 'I had a large anniversary trip to Disney cancelled,' she said in a video interview with 'It was an (LGBTQ2S+) couple and they just felt very unsafe and kind of not very welcome. They ended up rebooking into Mexico, even though they lost a little bit of money on the file.' Instead, Smigadis says more of her clients are opting to explore Canada, especially destinations like Banff, Alta., Vancouver, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. But affordability is a challenge, even for domestic trips. 'The pricing and the availability is so crazy,' Smigadis said. 'It's unfortunate because, especially as a travel agency, I do want to show off this gorgeous country of ours and especially in this moment where we come together as Canadians.' She says greater cooperation between governments, airlines and hotels is needed to make Canadian travel more accessible. 'I wish the Canadian companies, Canadian airlines, and Canadian hotels would incentivize Canadians to stay within Canada,' she said. 'There has to be some way for us to make it more accessible — for our dollars to be used here as opposed to going abroad.' Data from Expedia supports the broader trend. According to the company's first-quarter earnings call, Canada's inbound travel to the U.S. was down nearly 30 per cent in the first quarter. 'While we've been seeing recent fluctuations in U.S. search activities, Canadians are still eager to travel and have been rediscovering all the beauty Canada has to offer,' said Melanie Fish, head of Expedia Group brands public relations in the company's Summer Travel Outlook. 'This is a very emotional thing' Some American tourism operators say they're feeling the downturn directly. 'This isn't something you solve with a few dollars off. This is a very emotional thing,' said Paul Dame, owner of Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in a video interview with 'The stuff that's being said is just downright not nice to Canadians, and unfortunately, that has definitely put a damper on our business.' Dame's resort, just an hour south of Montreal, typically relies on Canadian visitors. But those numbers are down sharply this year. 'The start of the season, April and May, we were 30 per cent behind last year,' Dame said. 'Lodging reservations were 22 per cent down … I would say about 25 per cent of our regular guests have decided not to return.' He said he's personally reached out to dozens of long-time customers, many of whom have visited for more than a decade. 'They said, 'We love you, we love Bluff Point, but we're not going to be coming back to the United States this year,'' he said. 'That was 49 out of about 130 groups.' The resort is still seeing some large group bookings go through, but individual golfers and day trippers have dropped off drastically. 'We would usually see 25 to 30 cars a day in the parking lot. Now we're seeing one, maybe two,' Dame said, adding the daily golfer is second-guessing a trip to the U.S. Despite the challenges, Dame said he's working on a new outreach video to reconnect with Canadians. 'I hope that we at least start to move in the right direction, so that we can rebuild the greatest cross-border relationship anywhere in the world,' he said. 'We've been friends and partners for decades … it would be great for both sides to just move forward, make amends, and hopefully continue a friendship that was a long time made.'

While Bitcoin Hits a New Price Record, Critics Still Have These Warnings for Crypto Investors

Globe and Mail

16 hours ago

Globe and Mail

While Bitcoin Hits a New Price Record, Critics Still Have These Warnings for Crypto Investors

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) may have hit a new all-time high of $112,000 in May, but it's not out of the woods quite yet. Already, Bitcoin has retreated back down to the $105,000 level, and there are some critics warning about a further decline in price. While the long-term outlook for Bitcoin might be bullish, there could be quite a bit of uncertainty and volatility over the second half of 2025. Here are three key factors keeping the Bitcoin skeptics up at night. Tariff and trade uncertainty As long as tariffs continue to dominate the headlines, they will continue to have a direct impact on how investors view the crypto market. As a result, it's been a see-saw year for Bitcoin. After hitting an all-time high in January, Bitcoin dropped as low as $75,000 after President Donald Trump announced the new Liberation Day tariffs on April 2. Bitcoin has subsequently recovered, but every week seems to bring some new twist or turn in the tariff debate. The newest factor is the worsening state of the trade negotiations involving the U.S. and China. At one time, it looked like some kind of trade deal might be worked out by mid-summer. Now, it looks like the two sides are further apart than ever. So how will Bitcoin investors react? If they view Bitcoin as a safe haven asset, they might move even more money into Bitcoin, thereby boosting its price. However, if they view Bitcoin as a risky and volatile digital asset, then they might sell off, just as they did in April. Unfinished business in Washington When President Trump came into office in January, the future looked very bright indeed for Bitcoin. New crypto legislation looked like it would be ready to sign soon, and crypto enthusiasts were excited about upcoming Bitcoin initiatives from the Trump White House. However, five months into the presidency, and there's still a lot of unfinished business. Take the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, for example. Yes, Trump signed an executive order for its creation in March, but it delivered much less punch than many people expected. Most importantly, the executive order failed to outline how the government planned to buy Bitcoin in the future. As a result, investors are still waiting on some form of legislation, such as the BITCOIN Act proposed by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), that will precisely outline a mechanism for buying more Bitcoin. On top of all that, there are now questions swirling around the Trump family's connections to Bitcoin. At the very least, there appear to be potential conflicts of interest. For example, Donald Trump's media company -- Trump Media & Technology Group -- recently divulged plans to buy $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. And members of the Trump family now have interests in a variety of Bitcoin-related projects. The four-year Bitcoin cycle Historically, Bitcoin has followed a fairly predictable pattern of boom and bust. The four-year Bitcoin cycle starts with a period of quiet accumulation, followed by a period of rapid growth. This leads to a Bitcoin bubble filled with hype and speculation. After that comes the crash. For example, the 2020-2021 rally that saw Bitcoin hit a (then) all-time high of $69,000 was quickly followed by a disastrous market crash that saw it lose 65% of its value in 2022. And the same pattern may be happening again. If history is any guide, then the final phase of the Bitcoin cycle could be arriving soon. Thus, even if Bitcoin soars to $150,000 this year, it might have a hard time holding on to those gains heading into 2026. If you'd have waited until now to buy Bitcoin, you might be buying at or close to the top of the market. By the end of 2025, it might already be too late. Only a 22% chance of failure? The good news is that most Bitcoin investors are remarkably bullish these days. According to online prediction markets, Bitcoin only has a 22% chance of falling below the $70,000 price level, and only a 16% chance of falling below the $60,000 price level. Long gone are the days when people regularly prognosticated that Bitcoin could fall all the way to zero. That being said, investors still need to be aware of the risks of investing in Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin never goes straight up. It is highly volatile, filled with many peaks and valleys. If you don't have firm convictions about Bitcoin, it's remarkably easy to buy high and sell low. When it comes to Bitcoin, it's best to keep a long-term perspective. Bitcoin has never been a tariff-proof, inflation-proof, or recession-proof asset. But over a long enough time horizon, it continues to be the top-performing asset in the world. The only catch is that you have to be willing to hold on to it, through good times and bad. Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now? Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,538!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $869,841!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is789% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025

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U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

While Bitcoin Hits a New Price Record, Critics Still Have These Warnings for Crypto Investors

Andersen Consulting Announces Collaboration with Bretteville Consulting

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U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

U.S. tourism is trying to woo back Canadian travellers. Is it working?

While Bitcoin Hits a New Price Record, Critics Still Have These Warnings for Crypto Investors

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