Tourism leaders call for a time-out on the U.S.-Canada travel meltdown 

The Beyond Borders Tourism Coalition (BBTC), formed in 2025 by major U.S. and Canadian tourism associations, is urging leaders on both sides of the border to reset the tone, provide predictable pricing and consultation, and invest in joint recovery and marketing in 2026.

The Coalition points out that for generations, hopping the border for a weekend was as normal as debating how to pronounce “about,” but 2025 has delivered a plot twist worthy of a Louise Penny novel that nobody wants to read.

Canadian trips to the U.S. by car have dropped close to 20 per cent, with some states reporting campground reservations from Canadians plunging by over 70%. In places like Montana and New Hampshire, businesses that once counted on Canadians for up to 80% of international visitors are now counting empty parking spots and reduced direct flights from Canada to the U.S.

Even U.S. ski resorts are praying for more than just snow- but a shift in attitude that brings Canadians back to their slopes.

Meanwhile, the Coalition states, U.S. tourism operators are watching long‑standing cross‑border itineraries unravel as travellers decide that surprise fees, tariffs and tense headlines are not their idea of vacation planning. Border towns that used to measure success in sold‑out weekends are now measuring it in deeply discounted shoulder seasons.

As a result, Canadians, who once made more than 20 million trips a year to the U.S., are now quietly voting with their passports and staying home or exploring abroad.

And U.S. travellers are wondering just how welcome they are in the Great White North these days, with Canadian marketers trying hard to convince them that there will forever be a welcoming seat at the table.

On the Canadian side, destinations that have spent decades building cross‑border relationships – including Indigenous and rural communities – are now watching carefully laid plans wobble every time a new tariff, fee or rhetorical grenade gets lobbed across the 49th. For an industry built on long lead times and trust, this kind of policy whiplash feels less like economic strategy and more like an expensive game of twister.

Finally, for everyday Canadians and international visitors, the idea that a border officer might scroll through holiday posts, political memes or decade‑old concert photos is not exactly the welcome mat they had in mind – and industry groups warn it risks a serious “chilling effect” on tourism as travellers quietly choose destinations where their newsfeeds are not part of the customs experience.

The Beyond Borders Tourism Coalition includes the United States Tour Operators Association, the American Bus Association, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, the National Tour Association, the International Inbound Travel Association, the Student & Youth Travel Association, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC), American Indigenous Tourism Association (AITA), and Destination Original Indigenous Tourism (DOIT) and Destination International.

Collectively, these organizations represent thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of workers who are all asking the same question: How did we go from “world’s longest peaceful border” to “world’s least predictable vacation destinations?”

The Coalition is simply asking for better policies. Recommendations include:

• Stop the surprise‑fee era: No more dropping major price changes – like per‑person international park surcharges or new CUA fee structures – into a season that was sold a year and a half ago. Give operators clear timelines, real consultation and enough runway to adjust without blowing up contracts and customer trust.
• Dial down the tariff theatrics: Reassess travel‑related tariffs and cross‑border costs that may play well in a soundbite but quietly drain billions from border economies and small businesses.
• Retire the tough‑talk tourism strategy: Replace annexation jokes and “foreigners must pay up” messages with pro‑tourism, pro‑trade language that reflects how many jobs, tax dollars and community projects rely on visitors from our neighboring countries.
• Invest in the relationship, not just the rhetoric: Back joint marketing, recovery programs and support for gateway and Indigenous communities so they are not left holding the bill for policies they did not design.

The Beyond Borders Tourism Coalition is asking leaders in Washington, Ottawa and every border state and province to do something radical: treat the U.S.–Canada tourism relationship like the valuable asset it is.

Shannon Stowell, President of the ATTA and initial founder of the BBTC, said that: “Every $100 surprise at a park gate, every new tariff, every off‑the‑cuff negative comment about our closest neighbor sends a signal.”

And Stowell continued: “Right now, that signal is: ‘Maybe don’t come or maybe you won’t be welcome.’ Our ask is simple: stop making it harder and more expensive for Canadians and Americans to visit each other and start acting like the longest undefended border in the world, and our subsequent longstanding relationships, are still something worth exploring and protecting – together.”

Go to www.beyondborderstourismcoalition.com for more.