Topline
The Canadian boycott of travel to the U.S. continued through September—cementing an enormous economic loss for American tourism in 2025 as visitors from around the world choose not to travel to the States amid geopolitical tensions.
The number of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the most common way of visiting—dropped by 35% last month compared to September 2024, according to data released Friday from Statistics Canada, on par with a 34% drop in August.
There was also a 27% decline in air travelers from Canada year-over-year, following a 25% year-over-year drop in August.
September was the ninth consecutive month of steep declines in inbound Canadian travel, with double-digit year-over-year drops in both car and air travel to the U.S. every month since April.
Travel in the other direction was also down, though less significantly, with 5% fewer Americans driving to Canada in September compared to a year ago.
In recent years, Canadian tourists have been the biggest single source of international visitors to the U.S., making up roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers who come to the country, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), part of the Commerce Department. In 2024, Canadian tourists vacationing in the U.S. spent $20.5 billion. In the first six months of 2025, Canadian travel to the U.S. was down 24% overall, according to Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics. The protracted decline is part of a larger overall drop in international tourists, driving a projected economic loss of up to $29 billion compared to what U.S. tourism officials had expected at the beginning of the year.
Trump’s tariffs and anti-immigration rhetoric have repelled travelers, tourism officials say. “Geopolitical and policy-related concerns … paired with harsh rhetoric” have resulted in “negative global travel sentiment toward the US,” Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, wrote in its August update, noting “the sentiment drag has proven to be severe” at the same time the “weakened dollar has made the US a more affordable destination.”
About 15% fewer Indian tourists visited the U.S. in August compared to last year, deepening a slide that cost American businesses roughly $340 million over the summer, according to NTTO estimates—as U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparred over tariffs, Russian oil and who should get credit for a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
U.S. Tourism Will Lose Up To $29 Billion As Visitors Plummet Amid Trump Policies (Forbes)