Travel companies say Canadians are canceling US travel — and opting for this destination instead
A theme in travel industry earnings this week has emerged: fewer Canadians are visiting the US.
There have also been signs of a top destination they're headed to instead: Mexico.
Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said on an earnings call Tuesday that the company, whose hotels are primarily located in the US, has seen a decline in Canadian visitors. Caesars Entertainment, the Nevada-based hotel and casino company, also said on its earnings call that Canadian visitation was down. However, both companies said Canadians made up a small portion of their overall business.
Booking Holdings, an online travel booking company, also reported Canada-US travel has slowed, and offered some insight into where Canadian travelers are going instead. The company's brands include Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.
"In the quarter, we observed notable changes in certain travel patterns. We saw a moderation in trends for inbound travel into the US, particularly from bookers in Canada, and to a lesser extent, from bookers in Europe," CFO Ewout Lucien Steenbergen said on Tuesday's earnings call. "However, we also saw an improvement in trends in other travel corridors, for example, from Canada to Mexico, resulting in stable growth overall."
Steenbergen added that the company was "agnostic where they are traveling because usually, they're spending the same amount just at another destination."
The company earnings were the latest sign that Canadians are avoiding US travel in response to President Donald Trump's trade war and his comments about making Canada the 51st state. There have also been other indications from travel companies that Canadians are opting to visit Mexico over the US.
Longwoods International, a market research consultancy specializing in the travel tourism industry, found in a study released Tuesday that Mexico was one of the top destinations Canadians chose over the US. The survey, conducted earlier this month, included 1,000 Canadian adults who have taken a trip in the past three years and plan to take one in the next two years.
The survey found 36% of respondents had planned to travel to the US in the next 12 months but decided to cancel their plans, while 60% said US government policy, trade practices, or political statements have made them less likely to visit the US in the next year.
Of those who said US government policies were impacting their travel plans, 40% said they'd take a domestic trip instead, while 27% said they'd travel to a different international destination. The most popular international destinations included Mexico, Portugal, Spain, France, and the Caribbean.
In March, WestJet Airlines also said Canadian travelers were opting for Central America over the US.
"There's clearly been a reaction," Alex Cruz, the vice chairman of WestJet, said on CNBC about how Trump's trade war had impacted Canadians visiting the US. "What we are seeing, though, is people changing their destinations. It's no longer Phoenix or Florida. It's the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Mexico."
Christian Wolters, the Canada president of tour organizer Intrepid Travel, also told NBC News last month that Canadian customers were avoiding the US and traveling domestically or to places like Mexico and Costa Rica.
The US Travel Association has said that a 10% reduction in visitors from Canada, the top source of international travelers to the US, could mean a loss of $2.1 billion in spending and 14,000 jobs.
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