This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.
California tourism could lose billions of dollars because of President Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs, immigration and gender identity, as well as his talk of annexing Canada.
Visit California, a nonprofit organization that promotes tourism in the Golden State, recently revised its overall visitor spending forecast for this year from $166 billion to $160 billion, saying international travel into California is already beginning to slow. Canada, the second-largest source of international tourism dollars for the state after Mexico, accounted for $3.7 billion of the $26.5 billion foreign travel brought into the state last year, Visit California said.
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So it could be a big problem for California that many Canadians are angry about tariffs and Trump’s insistence that their country should become the 51st U.S. state. Many are refusing to buy U.S.-made products and don’t want to cross the border. Canada and other countries have also issued advisories for travel to the United States, warning travelers that they risk being detained, or that because of the Trump’s administration’s policies on transgender people there could be complications for them depending on what gender is shown on their passports.
Carol Harris, who spoke with CalMatters from Nova Scotia, said she and her husband have visited family in San Diego every year for a long time, but not anymore.
“Never again, until Trump’s gone,” said Harris, a retired university professor who said it will be a big loss. “I will miss the desert,” she added. “I love the topography of California. I like the politics of California.” Still, she said that as an “adamantly progressive” person, not visiting the United States is “just something we have to do.”
Charlie Angus, a member of Canada’s Parliament, recently called Trump’s rhetoric “an act of war” and urged Canadians not to travel to the United States. He cited the case of a Canadian citizen with a U.S. work visa who said she was detained by U.S. officials for two weeks.
“It’s become clear that Donald Trump is willing to drive his nation’s economy into chaos; to rip up the biggest and best trading partnership in the world; to drive the U.S. travel industry to the ground,” Angus said during a March 20 news conference.
Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, doubled down on Trump’s annexation remarks in an email response to CalMatters’ questions about the decline in international travel, especially from Canada: “The United States is a great destination for international travelers, and Canadians will be unburdened by the inconveniences of international travel when they become American citizens as residents of our cherished 51st state.”
Effect on California economy
California saw an 8.8% year-over-year decline in international arrivals in February, Visit California said. If that continues, a broad travel slowdown could hurt different industries that fall under the tourism umbrella, including hospitality and restaurants — and the roughly 3 million Californians who work in them.
Lynn Mohrfeld, chief executive of the California Hotel and Lodging Association, said he is concerned about the possible effects on his industry, though he said it could take some time for those to show up. He said international travelers usually plan their trips way in advance, so they may not cancel their plans even if they might have concerns about visiting the U.S. Because of that, he said he expects summer travel to be strong.
He is clinging to optimism about the near term, but Mohrfeld said “we’ve all heard the nationalistic stuff coming out of Canada, and we’re getting whipsawed on these tariffs. We don’t know whether we’re coming and going… so we would definitely love some consistency and stability on that rhetoric.”
Carol Harris, who spoke with CalMatters from Nova Scotia, said she and her husband have visited family in San Diego every year for a long time, but not anymore.””””””””””
Hey Carol, little fact, Canada opened tourist and land buying in CUBA! IT HAS FOR DECADES.
As you Kunk’s would say “ea”…. You know as Castro and the Communists were killing people in Africa and Latin America you idiots were and continue today to pump your currency into a government that most likely would have collapsed with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
So miss the desert? Awwwww
Still going to elect another Socialist Idiot as you did for years? Still going to welcome Communist China Yuan investment.
So much to list and so little time.
Bub bye.
Really you are an aswhole