Are American hosts seeing "backlash" cancellations from outside the country?

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Canada is the number one source of tourists to the United States, and in the past couple of days I have seen several articles in Canadian media about a tourist backlash against Mr. Trump’s declared intention to squeeze Canada’s economy to convince it to be annexed by the United States or sign over rare mineral rights or whatever the heck he’s after.

I also saw a long interview with a senior Canadian politician just back from the White House where the Canadian delegation was advised by several close advisors to Trump to “take all of this very seriously.” The politician characterized Trump’s threats as a “shakedown” and a “betrayal,” a view that polling tells us is widely held in Canada.

News from the travel sector:

  • Air Canada is reacting to a 40% year-over-year decline in reservations to American “sun destinations” by cancelling some upcoming flights to Florida, Texas and California
  • WestJet (Canada’s second-largest airline) is assessing what to to about a 25% drop in reservations to the United States
  • A small tour operator who does things like organize golf vacations in the southern USA for large groups of Canadians is reporting cancellations worth “hundreds of thousands” of dollars
  • anecdotal reports from individual Canadian travellers who changed or cancelled their plans, including one who who cancelled knowing full well she would lose her deposit

I have no idea whether Canadian stays in American Airbnb’s are a significant market segment – maybe all Canadians visiting the USA stay in hotels or time shares or (like my wife) modest little Florida condos inherited from family. My question in this thread, are any of the hosts on this forum with Airbnb properties in the USA seeing a drop-off, and are hosts with properties that could serve as a backup to Canadians abandoning the USA (Mexico, St. Lucia) seeing an uptick from Canadian inquiries/reservations?

Just curious.

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I’ve never had lots of Canadian guests so if this were a problem, it probably (hopefully!) wouldn’t affect me. But thanks for pointing this out, @Spark - I look forward to a lively discussion about this.

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I expect a similar backlash is about to sweep Europe as well.

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I don’t see many, if any, Canadians in my area and this time of year is always slow for me. I have seen some postings encouraging Americans to boycott AirBnb’s in general due to the founder being a Trump supporter. I do wonder if we will see any results from that or not.

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If people are going to boycott something, they really should get their stories straight. I’ve seen posts saying Gebbia is the CEO, which he is not, and other misinformation.

It isn’t the fact that he is a founder that has any relevance- plenty of businesses have founders who are either long dead or no longer involved.
It’s that he currently sits on the board of directors and is the head of Airbnb.org. that is the issue.

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We have virtually no bookings, maybe because of backlash or boycott. Our listing shows well on incognito search within about 8 miles. The year has started very slowly, and I’m looking into ltr and other income streams. We have not had many Canadian guests.

We are near Los Angeles and have a preponderance of fairly local guests, from greater Los Angeles, Bay Area, San Diego etc. We have not had many international guests since before covid.

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What region are you in. What mix of people book your place when it gets busy?

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No backlash experienced here. Have Canadian guests in our guesthouse right now and have 3 bookings with guests from Canada in the next two months.

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When I started this thread I cited reports in Canadian media – today and yesterday it’s the New York Times:

Normally Times stories are behind a paywall, but as a subscriber I’m supposed to be able to “unlock” and share a couple of articles a week. I’ve never tried sharing an unlocked link on a group-chat forum before… Please let me know if you tried and weren’t able to get in.

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We have just had a cancellation from Canadian guests!

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Are you in the United States?

Did they give a reason.

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Yes, our rental property is in Florida near Disney. Our guests are Canadian and they said it was due to the ‘current situation’.

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A miserable old man, Dumph has a long record of having everything he touches turn to shit. Now he has the power to make all of our lives miserable too…

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Dumph has a long record of having everything he touches turn to shit.

A man named Rick Wilson (another Floridian) actually wrote a best-selling book making exactly that point:

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Europe is next.
American media is understating the fury overseas:

If you cater to European guests and want to take a pulse of the marketplace, you might try reading The Independent, The Guardian, The Economist, the English-language der Spiegel or le Monde – or news media from pretty well any NATO country which suffered casualties after following the U.S.A. to war against al Qaeda in Afghanistan (and, by the way, did not retroactively ask America for perpetual rare-earth mineral royalties in exchange).

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Most Americans are not aware that after Japan bombed Canada’s best friend at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Canada declared war on the Empire of Japan 24 hours before America did.

Most Canadians are aware of that fact.

It’s not just the “current situation” – it’s the “current situation” after more than a century of good-faith, loyal friendship.

In normal times if Canadians who had a beef something America did proposed a travel boycott, national political leaders would be calling for cooler heads. Today it is actually the Prime Minister of Canada who is urging Canadians to avoid travel to the USA. North America hasn’t seen anything like this since 1812

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Today another essay – this time in Huffington Post:

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Just a follow up on our personal experience - we have never had more guests from Canada than we have in the last 6 weeks. Seriously, almost 50% of our guests have been from Canada! Just goes to show it is quite easy to “cocoon” yourself in a world where you assume everyone sees things the way you do.

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We have Canadian guests who are ‘regulars’; they are still coming (at least until the sad excuse for an administration weakens our economy enough so that it is not economically possible for our Canadian friends to continue to do business here). They all start out in their messaging telling us how Canada feels that they are being threatened and that there is nothing good about what is happening now. I agree and see the cost of living rising here, and tourism and travel being severely impacted by a clumsy and unserious ‘president’ who did not earn a majority vote.

As the MAGgots cocoon themselves in a world where they assume everyone sees things the way they do, the harm they are doing to everyone from college students to folks on SNAP is sad and makes me angry. I am sure that the reaction and pushback will be swift, and I hope that this page of history is short and brief.

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And then there are facts, as opposed to the “cocoon” of personal anecdotes and opinions.

CTV News:
"One industry monitor recently found that demand for Canada-U.S. flights has “collapsed,” with cross-border bookings down more than 70 per cent for this spring and summer.

Demand for U.S. tour packages has fallen off in recent months, companies say.

“People aren’t willing to go to the States right now. They just don’t want to and they’ve been cancelling left and right,” said Karl Gilder, owner of Travac Tours, in a recent interview with CTV News Ottawa.

“Our New York trip, which is our signature product to the U.S., over the years we were averaging 25 to 30 buses a year and we’re
down to zero. It’s a big chunk.”

Another tour operator, this time in New Brunswick, has cut all U.S. destinations from its offerings amid fading demand.

“The people are just not interested,” PT Tours owner Phyllis LeBlanc told CTV News Atlantic, citing high exchange rates and distrust for Trump as contributing factors.

Cancellations, slowed bookings and negative feedback for U.S. travel were reported by more than 80 per cent of surveyed members of the International Inbound Travel Association, the U.S. non-profit wrote in an emailed statement to CTV News Friday.

“Both our destination and tour operator members have heard a growing sentiment that Canadians do not want to travel to the U.S. right now,” the statement reads.

The drop in Canadian demand is “catastrophic,” according to Matt Levy, owner of New York City tour company Spread Love Tours.

“In 2024, Canadian high school class trips to New York City made up $35,000 of my gross profit. This year, it’s $5,000 and declining,” Levy told CTV News Ottawa.

Canadian AirBnB searches for domestic stays have surged roughly 20 per cent, according to a Wednesday statement from the company, a trend that “suggests that Canadians are not only interested in travelling in their own backyard, but also supporting Canadian hosts on Airbnb while doing so.”

USA Today:
"According to aviation data firm OAG, airline bookings from Canada to the U.S. have collapsed in recent months.

“Using forward booking data from a major GDS supplier, we’ve compared the total bookings held at this point last year with those recorded this week for the upcoming summer season. The decline is striking — bookings are down by over 70% in every month through to the end of September,” a statement from the firm said.

“Comparing the total number of scheduled one-way seats between the two countries filed on 3rd March and those filed on 24th March … 320,000 seats have been removed by airlines operating between the two countries through to the end of October,” a statement from OAG said. “The most noticeable cuts are in July and August –the two peak summer season months – where airlines have cut capacity by some 3.5%.”

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