In 25 years working at a Quebec hotel, Stephan Comeau says he has never seen so many Americans who apologize for “the political situation in their country.”
COMEAU is the reception manager at Ripplove Hôtel & Spa in the municipalities of the East. He said that some Americans even call ahead to ask if being from the United States will be a problem.
But not everyone is worried.
“I feel welcome and I want to support Canada,” Daisy Benson told Radio-channel while drinking a drink with his partner outside Hovey Manor in North Hatley, who, at the end of May.
Border crossing shows that less Americans come to Canada, and some theorize tensions with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, can be the problem: travelers can fear that they are not welcome to the north of the border.
The number of trips that the Americans made to Canada by car decreased by 10.7 percent in April and 8.4 percent in May compared to the same months of last year.
Air trips also decreased, with a 5.5 percent drop in April and a slight decrease of 0.3 percent in May, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Despite the fall compared to 2024, the number of American air travelers during the first three weeks of May remains almost seven percent higher than in 2023. The trip was almost stopped in 2020 and 2021, and remained quite low in 2022.
Looking back 2019, about five percent more American travelers arrived by air than this year.
Encourage Americans to come to visit
At least one tourism association, Tourisme Cantons-de-l’est In the Municipalities of the East, he has launched an advertising campaign to assure his neighbors that will be welcome.
Its objective is to dissipate fears as the summer season begins. The announcement is reproduced on YouTube and on televisions in the northeast of the United States.
The head of the organization, Shanny found, said the exchange rate “is very favorable for Americans at this time, so they can experience low -cost luxury vacations.”
The campaign emphasizes affordability while “reaffirming our hospitality values,” he said, to help Americans feel welcome.
Between January and April, he said, the entries on the border of Quebec-United States fell a little more than four percent.
Montreal tourism is expected to be around the pair
Yves Lalumière, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, said that the slowest beginning was not unexpected given recent tensions, but hopes that US trips remain around the average, more or less three to five percent.
“We are not seeing any decrease that is drastic,” said Lalumière, noting that the Grand Prix is expected to bring two million visitors.
It will not be a record year, he said, but it will not be bad either. He called him a positive stable and said there are no signs of significant deceleration.
“We are still early in the game during the summer,” he said. “August, September and October are also good months for the American clientele.”
With less Canadians traveling to the United States, he said that Canadian organizations and companies plan conventions and meetings in Montreal. At the same time, the city is working to attract more international visitors.
Montreal airport has continued to diversify its routes to reduce dependence on any market. Lalumière said the city is now connected to 156 markets, with flights from places like India, Dubai and Tokyo.
“We have added many flights. Many countries,” said Lalumière.
Like Lalumière, Glenn Castanheira said there was a recession in American travelers, but the impulse is returning. He is the executive director of the Association of Merchants of the Center of Montreal, who worried when the commercial war began and Trump began to threaten the sovereignty of Canada.
While it is still cautiously optimistic, Castanheira said that the efforts of groups such as yours, together with the Montreal Chamber of Commerce, Tourisme Montreal and others, suggest that Americans are not particularly concerned about crossing Canada.
They know they are welcome, he said, but they say “I’m sorry” so often that Americans may be becoming Canadians.
“Add to the mixture that the US dollar is for the advantage of Americans, it is a great player,” said Castanheira, who studied at Harvard University.
“What I am trying to say is that we are not so worried because Americans know how welcome they are, especially here in Montreal.”
