Canada's Tourism Boycott Is Hammering These US Cities

With fewer cries of “eh?” to be heard on the Las Vegas Strip and a lack of snowbirds in Myrtle Beach, with winter incoming, there’s a renewed sense of urgency to start to thaw Canada’s collective cold shoulder.

Granted, the so-called Canadian tourism boycott doesn't make for great reading by US-based tourism bosses – particularly given that most recent travel data released for September 2026 showed visitor numbers to the US remain 29% down in comparison to 2024. That time frame is important as the US enacted stiff tariffs on Canada in early 2025.

In 2026, there was a meager 7% improvement in Canadian visitors in September, but it remains a far cry from 2024.

An ongoing headache for all concerned, the fact remains there are a number of driving factors contributing to the fall in Canadian vacations, from privacy concerns at the border to the weakened Canadian dollar and the overall cost of travel due to soaring gas prices.

The Great Canadian Stayaway, By the Numbers

It's not just US retailers and hoteliers that have witnessed the decline firsthand, as Statistics Canada has identified it too. In its 2026 National Travel Survey (NTS), Statistics Canada reported that 7.1 million fewer visits to the US were made by Canadians, amounting to a fall of C$3.3 billion in spending in 2025 compared to the previous year.

Ominously, the impact may in fact be worse than the government statistics suggest, as University of Toronto (U of T) researchers discovered a median drop of 42% in Canadian visits across US metropolitan areas based on actual user mobile-phone activity.

Arguably, Trump's simmering resentment of Canada has been all too evident since he took office for a second time and remains a prominent component of the ongoing fallout. You can understand why, given the non-stop jibes about making Canada the 51st state, his hostile trade tariffs, and of course, the fact that he's renamed Lake Ontario.

External factors such as the poor exchange rate and the escalating cost of travel may also have played a part, but the fact that Canadians took five million more staycations and made 1.3 million more overseas visits in 2025 clearly demonstrates they're still going away… they're just not visiting the US.

Which US Tourism Cities Have Been Hit Hardest?

Despite an overall drop in Canadian visitor numbers, the pinch has become more notable in prominent tourist-dependent cities, which have publicly ramped up efforts to lure America's northern cousins to start visiting again. 

Border cities such as Detroit and Buffalo are perhaps the first in the firing line, as despite being close enough for local residents to cross over for a gig or an NFL game, Visit Detroit president Claude Molinari estimates that Canadian visitation to Southeast Michigan fell about 30% in 2025.

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has been forced to grapple with the consequences of the sizable Canadian retreat, which resulted in a 17.4% drop last year in tourists from Canada. To put that into perspective, that's more than double the overall 7.5% drop in Sin City visitors, which worryingly fell to just 38.5 million last year.

Likewise, hotspots popular among Canadian snowbirds such as Myrtle Beach and Fort Lauderdale are also feeling the squeeze. Best known for its stunning beaches and world-famous golf courses, Myrtle Beach has registered a 65% decline based on the U of T data, while a lack of demand meant airlines were forced to scale back the number of direct flights to Fort Lauderdale by 7% in 2025, followed by a further nearly 9% decline in the first half of 2026. 

What Are Cities Doing to Bring Canadians Back?

Undeniably, US cities are pulling out all the stops as a second peak winter season without Canadian snowbirds may well be the final nail in the coffin for a number of small businesses already struggling in the downturn. 

While smaller-scale promotions, such as Myrtle Beach hotels offering Canadians up to 50% off stays of seven nights or longer, saw a marginal uptick in visitor numbers from north of the border, the question remains whether this is sustainable.

Likewise, other cities with arguably deeper pockets who also rely heavily on Canadian tourism have taken even more drastic measures. You only need to look at Las Vegas’ ‘Vegas At Par’ promotion, which offered Canadians with ID:

• At-par hotel rates at Circa, The D and Golden Gate, with unlimited eligible stays.
• Up to $500 exchanged at par for slot promotional play.
• Unlimited at-par drink pricing at BarCanada, Overhang and Bar Prohibition!

Although it was reported that over 120,000 Canadians took up the offer of $1 USD in value for every $1 CAD spent at its featured venues, ultimately the promotion ended on August 31. 

Can US Tourism Reverse the Canadian Exodus?

Whether driven by politics or economic pressures, the ongoing boycott shows that US cities can no longer take Canadian visitors for granted.

Of course, short-term incentives may offer some relief, but the bigger conundrum remains: how can US cities win over an entire nation when there are countless alternatives both at home and overseas? Nevertheless, with the Canadian holdout showing no signs of ending, it’s almost certainly a dilemma that handing out coupon codes is unlikely to solve.