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There are a number of reasons Canadians could be discouraged from travelling to the United States, but still many continue to make the trip across the border.
Canadian travel to the States is climbing despite tariffs introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump, boycott trends discouraging support for the U.S. and the weak Canadian dollar.
According to Statistics Canada, U.S. travel rose by 8.7 per cent from April 2017 to April 2018 following three years of decline.
The 2017 report from the U.S. Travel Association said the increase began in September 2016.
It notes historically U.S. travel from Canada is closely related to exchange rates. It states the spiking numbers can be partly credited to this as the Canadian dollar is slowly strengthening, but is still weaker than the American dollar.
Trends like #BoycottUSA and #BuyCanadian are exploding on social media in the middle of the trade war between U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but the stats don’t align in terms of travel.
Regional Manager of Vision Travel Solutions, Terry Kaszas, isn’t surprised by these numbers saying U.S. travel from Saskatchewan is a strong market.
“It’s a getaway,” he said, adding he thinks people continue to travel there because it’s a similar, comfortable country.
Kaszas said people continue to take their kids to Disney World and Disneyland and enjoy the hot spots of Arizona and Hawaii.
“I don’t think anybody would deter their travel based on the leadership of another country, perhaps maybe North Korea or something along those lines. If they’re going to Disney World, they’re going to Disney World, and it’s not whether Trump is the president or Barack Obama is,” Kaszas said.
He travels there himself for getaways throughout the year and encourages U.S. vacations.
Nineteen-year-old Ben Breit has a similar opinion.
“If I’m planning to travel anywhere, I would go to the U.S. because it’s close to us.”
Breit said landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Grand Canyon are still there regardless of politics.
But not everybody is contributing to the rising statistic. Speaking to people around Regina, opinions on U.S. travel are mixed.
Dale McDonald is an avid U.S. traveller. His previous destinations include Las Vegas, Kansas City and New Orleans, but he won’t travel there currently because the weakness of the Canadian dollar makes going to the States too expensive.
Sarah Bester has other reasons she doesn’t want to travel there.
She’s put off her trip to Disney World because of the tensions between leaders, including Trump calling Trudeau “dishonest and weak” after the Quebec G7 Summit in June.
The U.S. Travel Association also states the power of travel there is higher than in other industries with every $1 million worth of travel sales creating eight jobs in the travel industry.