California tourism, especially from Canada, at risk in the era of the new Trump

From LevagsCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

California tourism can lose billions of dollars because of President Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs, immigration and gender identity, as well as his conversations about annexation of Canada.

Visit California, a non -profit organization that promotes tourism in Golden State, has recently revised its overall cost of visitors’ costs this year from $ 166 billion to $ 160 billion, saying that international travel in California is already starting to slow down. Canada, the second largest source of international dollars for tourism for the country after Mexico, represented $ 3.7 billion from travel of foreign trips of $ 26.5 billion imported into the state last year, visited California.

So it might be a big problem for California that many Canadians are angry Tariffs And Trump’s insistence that their country should become the 51st US state. Many refuse to buy products manufactured in the US and do not want to cross the border. Canada and other countries also have tips For traveling to the United States, warning travelers that they risk being detained, or that due to Trump administration policies on transgender people, there may be complications for them depending on what gender is shown on their passports.

Carol Harris, who is talking to Calmatters from Nova Scotia, said she and her husband visited a family in San Diego for a long time, but no longer.

“Never until Trump has gone,” said Harris, a retired university professor who said it would be a big loss. “I will miss the desert,” she added. “I love California’s topography. I like California’s policy.” Still, she said that as a “categorically progressive” person, not visiting the United States is “just something we need to do.”

Charlie Angus, a member of Canada’s parliament, recently called Trump’s rhetoric “Act of War” and called on the Canadians not to travel to the United States. He quoted the Canadian Citizen’s case with an American work visa who said she was detained by US officials for two weeksS

“It became clear that Donald Trump is ready to put the economy of his nation in chaos; to tear apart the biggest and best commercial partnership in the world; to bring the US tourism industry into place,” ” Angus said During a press conference on March 20.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokesman, doubled on the remarks of Trump’s annexation in response to Calmatters’ emails about the decline in international trips, especially from Canada: “The Mented States are a great destination for international trips for international trips The 51st country.

Effect on the California economy

California marked an 8.8% decrease in international arrival in February, California said. If this continues, the widespread delay in travel can harm various industries that fall under the umbrella of tourism, including hospitality and restaurants – and rude 3 million Californians who work in them.

Lynn Mohrfeld, CEO of the California Hotel and Accommodation Association, said he was concerned about the possible effects on his industry, although he said it could take some time to appear. He said that international travelers usually plan their trips in advance, so they cannot cancel their plans, even if they can have concerns about a US visit because of this, he said he expects the summer trip to be strong.

He clicks in optimism for the near term, but Mochrfeld said: “We have all heard the nationalist things coming out of Canada, and we are giving away at these tariffs. We do not know if we are coming and go … So we would definitely love some consistency and stability of this rhetoric.”

The wide tariffs imposed by the President last week of almost every country have anxious economists who warn of recession and erupted in the stock marketsS

Tariffs can lead to higher prices anywhere, which can lead to a continuation of travel. California restaurants can take a bigger hit than hotels. Tourists spent $ 34.8 billion in state restaurants in 2023, more than $ 32.8 billion they spend on accommodation, California reported.

“Visitors consistently spend the most food service, so restaurants will bear the weight of any decline in tourism, especially in major metropolitan destinations such as San Francisco and Los Angeles compared to those in the suburbs,” says Jot Condi, CEO of the California Restaurant Association. He said it could take a greater influence on Los Angeles, who is trying to recover from the deadly fires earlier this year.

Condi said the Association is trying to make sure that city leaders are aware of the struggles of the restaurant industry and that it is also working on campaigns to strengthen local traffic.

As for the airline industry, a visit to California CEO Caroline Betheta said that the possible effects of a decline in travel from certain places is a reduction in the airline routes.

“Every time there is a significant decline in the visit, airlines can withdraw routes from California airports and this can have long -term impacts,” she said. “We saw this in China after the pandemic. AirLift between China and California is still far from below where it was in 2019”

The connection in Canada

In February, a visit to California published a report predicting a 15% annual increase in Canadian tourism in the country, but now it plans to launch a revised forecast in May, which is likely to be in line with the tourism economy evaluation traveling from Canada in the United States will decrease 15% this year. The Canadian air arrival in the United States has declined by 12.3% in February compared to the same month, California said.

Beteta said its group intends to maintain its marketing and advertising efforts in Canada and that there is a team in Toronto that “maintains a message in California alive on the market.”

This message said, “California can continue to attract Canadian travelers thanks to our diverse culture and open attitude.”

Whether this message will resonate is a big question. Flight Center, a leading Canadian travel agency, said he has seen a 20% cancellation percentage of travel to the United States since February in the last three months.

Amra Durakovic, the head of communications for Travel Center Travel Group Canada, said “Canadians choose to spend their tourist dollars with more intention than ever,” adding that the agency sees more internal reservations as well as international trips to destination in Europe.

Nancy, who asked for her family not to be published because she fears that Trump’s administration would be directed to dual citizens like her is a “snow bird”. She and tens of thousands of Canadians, many of them retired, remain in California and other warm US states during the winter months.

Canadians have been able to stay in this country for up to six months at a time without a visa, but as of April 11, they will You must register with US immigration authorities If they intend to stay for more than 30 days.

Now Nancy said she heard other snow birds in the Coachel Valley, which carry visas from I-94 in their cars if they have to prove that they are legally allowed to remain in the United States for a long period of time.

Nancy was born in America, but mostly has lived in Canada since the early 1970s. She and her husband sell their apartment in a ranch Mirage, a decision they have made because of what she calls a headache involved in owning property in two countries, even above all, “harassment and nonsense.” She has now heard others, like talking about the sale of their properties in California.

“You get together with other Canadians, within the first two minutes, everyone says,” she said. “Unstable is not what you want to deal with when you are retired.”

She has strong relations with California, including a brother with disabilities in Los Angeles, who has no other alive than her. So she has to come back here. But she knows that Canadians are seriously involved in boycotting American products and traveling. “The economy will just be really shaken on both sides of the border, if it continues,” Nancy said.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.