Canadians Traveling to the USA in 2025

[ilovetotravel1977]

Okay.

 

[ottawamom]

All this is why I am doing my farewell tour to Disneyworld in November this year. I figure things can't be too infectious there by then. After that, I'll be looking to EuroDisney or Tokyo Disney for my Disney fixes. It's a shame because I have young grandchildren I was looking forward to taking to WDW in the coming years.

 

[Average Joes]

Since I'm willing to put my family on a petri dish (cruise ship) I'll probably not be overly concerned about what Florida is doing about disease prevention.

Questionable if we would have taken our formerly infant children to Disney if disease became a greater risk (from whatever cause - see I did not break the rules). Rather we probably would have waited until they were a bit older unless there was a health advisory against it in that hypothetical world.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Since I'm willing to put my family on a petri dish (cruise ship) I'll probably not be overly concerned about what Florida is doing about disease prevention.

Questionable if we would have taken our formerly infant children to Disney if disease became a greater risk (from whatever cause - see I did not break the rules). Rather we probably would have waited until they were a bit older unless there was a health advisory against it in that hypothetical world.

I think this is potentially reasonable if you have no risk factors and aren't around anyone who does, but I would be very watchful of measles numbers and not bring babies or pregnant women there if those are increasing.

 

[Reepicheep]

Stats Canada has released statistics for August, giving the year over year drop (or rise) in Canadians visiting the USA. The drop in tourism which started in January continues:

-CAR- -AIR-
+7% +4.6% Dec
+1% -1.4% Jan
-23% -2.4% Feb
-32% -14% Mar
-35% -20% Apr
-38% -24% May
-33% -22% June
-37% -26% Jul
-34% -26% Aug

The significant drop continues, but appears to have plateaued. Vegas appears to be especially hard hit by the Canadian boycott.

The key thing as we enter the fall is whether the expected Canadian snowbird boycott of the United States materializes (Florida, Arizona, California, and Texas are the most common destinations for snowbirds). I know Florida housing prices are down roughly 5% year over year, which is at least partly due to snowbirds selling their properties (resulting in more properties on the market which causes a drop in prices). July Orlando property prices are down 4.27% year over year.

 

[asc]

I wish it was lower.

 

[deanimal]

Interesting question about Florida, I hadn't really thought about that aspect. I guess at the moment for me it's a bit like asking if the risk of rabies would prevent me from moving a pack of lions into my living room. I mean, yeah, it's one factor I suppose, but there are so many other reasons not to that it's not at the top of the list.

The potential spread of communicable and preventable diseases is just one of many factors why I've taken Florida out of my future travel plans. I'm not going anywhere near that place for many reasons in the foreseeable future.

I do take my family on cruises and we've been to lots of different countries so I don't know if the risks would stop me in the distant future since my kids are older and we're all fully vaccinated. I would definitely reconsider if I was going with someone who had babies or was pregnant though.

 

[C.Witch]

Received an email this morning with a Canadian Residents deal for 2026, which *includes* March break. Bookings must be pretty abysmal.

 

[Reepicheep]

Received an email this morning with a Canadian Residents deal for 2026, which *includes* March break. Bookings must be pretty abysmal.

There is a Disneyland Vlogger I follow (who is affiliated with a competitor to Dreams Unlimited Travel, so I won't provide a link) who has done a couple of videos recently talking about how empty Disneyland has been all of September.

Below is a link to a news article dated yesterday which claims, with a hint of sensationalism, that "Disney World is empty, as Americans fear tourism is finished in Florida":

https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/usa-canada/disney-world-empty-americans-fear-35889259

For the third time in the past few years, my family spent the first two weeks of August at Disney World, and I can confirm that the crowds were far smaller this August than on previous August trips.

So, I think we can definitely conclude that crowds are smaller at both Disneyland and Disney World this year, and it is a reasonable hypothesis that the international tourism boycott is playing a significant role in this drop.

There are many news reports that talk about the significant effect the Canadian tourism boycott is having on cities like Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. But, there are other reports that claim Florida tourism numbers are up in 2025. My theory? This summer, many Americans outside Florida made short trips to Orlando to visit the new Epic Universe park, which does increase the number of tourists visiting Florida. BUT, a family of four from (say) Georgia spending a day at Epic Universe will not be spending nearly as much money as a family of four from (say) Canada spending a week at DIsney World.

 

[Reepicheep]

There is another indicator of smaller Disney World August crowds that I forgot to mention in my previous post. All three times we spent the first two weeks of August at Disney World, we had a daughter working there for the summer who was eligible for hotel discounts. During our first two August visits, cast member hotel discounts weren't available. This year, on April 1st I booked an excellent rate at All-Star Sports. In early July, cast member discounts became available, and my daughter was able to book us stays at Art of Animation and All-Star Sports at an incredible 50% off, rates that were even lower than my already excellent rate. Summer attendance must have been really off this year, for Disney to offer such an incredible discount to their employees.

 

[PetePanMan]

Received an email this morning with a Canadian Residents deal for 2026, which *includes* March break. Bookings must be pretty abysmal.

I fully expect that visits from Canadians are down (as evidenced by this thread) but just wanted to note that there have been similar Canadian discounts from time to time for years. I know we used one in Spring 2024 and have prior to that as well. For us, the biggest issue is still cost and exchange rates.

It certainly seems like tourism is down at Disney (and for sure by Canadians) but I saw a report recently that overall visits to Florida are only down minimally compared to last year (which was a record year). Stronger US visits and visitors from some other countries seem to be making up for most of the decline from Canadians and others who are choosing to avoid US travel

 

[Reepicheep]

Some of you must feel that I'm spamming this thread with travel statistics, but I've just found another Stats Canada report which I think needs to be shared. It provides an excellent summary of Canadian travel spending in the US during the first quarter of 2025. The report was released on August 25, so we can't expect to see the 2nd quarter report for a few months.

From my earlier post, below are the year over year increases or decreases in Canadians going to the US:

-CAR- -AIR-
+1% -1.4% Jan
-23% -2.4% Feb
-32% -14% Mar

which show that the boycott wasn't yet in place in Jan, and just starting to :develop in Feb and Mar. Nevertheless, the financial impact on the US was already significant. The key facts:

- in the first quarter, Canadians made 6.1 million trips to the US (this includes both air and car), which is down 10,8% from the same quarter in 2024
- 38.2% of these trips were same day
- in the 1st quarter of 2024, Canadians spent $6.2 billion in the US
- in the 1st quarter of 2025, Canadians spent $5.7 billion in the US, a drop of $0.5 billion, or down 7.9% over the first quarter of 2024

Now, on the surface, a drop of half a billion dollars in the quarter doesn't sound like much. But, we have to remember that boycotts by air were just starting to materialize, and Canadians on these trips would spend a lot more money than a Canadian making a day trip via car. So, I expect the drop in spending in the 2nd and 3rd quarters will be much higher. And, if a snowbird boycott materializes as expected, the 4th quarter of 2025 and 1st quarter of 2026 should show that the Canadian boycott is costing the US economy tens of billions of dollars.

National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, first quarter 2025

EDIT: link corrected.

 

[tinkerone]

Some of you must feel that I'm spamming this thread with travel statistics, but I've just found another Stats Canada report which I think needs to be shared. It provides an excellent summary of Canadian travel spending in the US during the first quarter of 2025. The report was released on August 25, so we can't expect to see the 2nd quarter report for a few months.

From my earlier post, below are the year over year increases or decreases in Canadians going to the US:

-CAR- -AIR-
+1% -1.4% Jan
-23% -2.4% Feb
-32% -14% Mar

which show that the boycott wasn't yet in place in Jan, and just starting to :develop in Feb and Mar. Nevertheless, the financial impact on the US was already significant. The key facts:

- in the first quarter, Canadians made 6.1 million trips to the US (this includes both air and car), which is down 10,8% from the same quarter in 2024
- 38.2% of these trips were same day
- in the 1st quarter of 2024, Canadians spent $6.2 billion in the US
- in the 1st quarter of 2025, Canadians spent $5.7 billion in the US, a drop of $0.5 billion, or down 7.9% over the first quarter of 2024

Now, on the surface, a drop of half a billion dollars in the quarter doesn't sound like much. But, we have to remember that boycotts by air were just starting to materialize, and Canadians on these trips would spend a lot more money than a Canadian making a day trip via car. So, I expect the drop in spending in the 2nd and 3rd quarters will be much higher. And, if a snowbird boycott materializes as expected, the 4th quarter of 2025 and 1st quarter of 2026 should show that the Canadian boycott is costing the US economy tens of billions of dollars.

National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, first quarter 2025

EDIT: link corrected.

The thing l worry about is if, going forward, we get true numbers or if the orange guy has his people cook the books, so to speak. He is already calling reports fake news and tossing out lies. We shall see I guess.