Business Travel by Air Between the Two Countries Declined Nearly 40% in February

Canadian tech CEO Oscar Acosta has been canceling business trips to three business conventions south of the US border due to reports of foreigners detained while trying to enter the country. The decision was made after reading about 35-year-old Canadian actress and entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney, who was held in detention for 12 days after reapplying for a work visa at the American border in San Diego and then banned from the US for five years. Acosta, who runs Ottawa-based startup Body M3canix, is from a visible minority background and is Hispanic. 

Across the country, Canadians are cancelling business trips, withdrawing from conferences, and avoiding future bookings to the US as the backlash against President Donald Trump hits the world of corporate travel. Flight Centre Travel Group Canada reported a 40% decline in business travel by air between the two countries in February due to a surge of nixed plans. Companies that pulled the plug spanned sectors ranging from banking and insurance to manufacturing.

Source: Financial Post
Source: CityNews

Canadian Travel Boycott Hits American Economy in Real Time

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book has revealed that Canadian travel has significantly decreased in many regions, with reports from cities across the country indicating a decline in international visitors. This is the first time the Beige Book has been filled with comments about not just a Canadian boycott but an international boycott against travel to the United States. The Beige Book provides a snapshot of the 12 Federal districts and is anecdotal, gathered from businesses and community leaders.

Both leisure and business travel were down, on balance, and several districts noted a decline in international visitors. Tourism operators in nine of the districts reported a noticeable decline in travel by Canadians. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said that travel from Canada declined noticeably, and contacts feared that summer travel from Europe and China could suffer as well due to negative reactions to U.S. tariff policies. More broadly, tourism contacts expressed concerns that declining consumer confidence could hurt leisure spending.

Canadians have taken matters into their own hands by switching to Canadian-made products and choosing to vacation at home instead of heading south. Data from Statistics Canada shows that the number of Canadians travelling to the U.S. in March fell by 13.5% for air travel and 32% for land travel from the same time last year. 

Experts attribute the decline to anger regarding U.S. tariffs and Donald Trump’s threats on Canada’s sovereignty, a rising Canadian dollar versus the greenback, and an increase in the number of travellers being detained at the U.S. border.

Source: Financial Post