Canadians’ boycott of travel to the U.S. is hitting hard on California’s sandy shores, prompting the state’s governor to make a social media pitch-plea to come back.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a video this week, is urging the two million Canadians who visited last year to look past U.S. President Donald Trump and return to enjoy the Golden State’s wine, sun and surf.
Newsom, without calling out Trump by name, says Canadians should not let a dust-up with Washington stop them from renewing their love affair with his coastal paradise.
“Sure, you-know-who is trying to stir things up back in D.C., but don’t let that ruin your beach plans,” Newsom says in the video, which is part of a $5.2-million US advertising effort to lure Canucks back over the border.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, launched a tourism campaign to draw Canadians back to the Golden State amid a decline in visits. In a video posted to social media, he is distancing the state from the White House’s actions and urges Canadian tourists to enjoy the sun, surf and wine his state has to offer. BC Today host Michelle Eliot and McKenzie McMilan, a travel consultant with the Travel Group, heard from callers who are not buying Newsom’s message.
Canadians have sharply curtailed vacation plans south of the border in recent weeks given an ongoing tariff war with the United States, a comparatively weak dollar, reports of travellers being detained by U.S. officials, and Trump openly musing about annexing the country.
Though Trump has recently relented from his verbal attacks on Canada, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Tuesday that he still thinks Canada should become the 51st state.
California estimates Canadians are the second-biggest international spenders for its tourism economy, and state tourism officials say visits by Canadians dropped 12 per cent in February compared with the same month last year.
“We kind of want to reach out and say, ‘You’re always welcome here when you’re ready to travel,'” said Caroline Beteta, president of industry-led state tourism marketer Visit California.
B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who is leading the province’s response to the trade war, told reporters on Tuesday that the ad was clearly in response to statistics showing travel south of the border has plummeted, with U.S.-bound traffic at Lower Mainland border crossings dropping by 42Â per cent in March.
“There’s a reason why there’s ads being run by U.S. states. It’s because Canadians have responded with a clear message — we’re not a 51st state. We’re not going to take this lightly,” Kahlon said.
“We believe all the tariffs should come off. And so, I’m proud of Canadians. I’m proud of British Columbians.”
Travel agents say U.S.-bound travel down
In Canada, travel agents paint a grimmer picture.
McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant with the Vancouver-based Travel Group, said overall business at the agency has remained steady as clients have chosen to avoid the U.S. for Europe, Asia and Mexico. But business to the United States has virtually dried up.
“We have seen a near-total collapse of U.S. business. We have some business based on our corporate clients travelling down for conferences or for board meetings,” McMillan said in an interview.
“But for leisure travel, we’ve almost seen a complete drop-off … probably about a 90 per cent drop since February.”
McMillan said tourism boards need to do more than just make a pitch for Canadians to come back.
“There’s anger among Canadian travellers, not so much with Americans but with the federal government in the United States and in other outreach I’ve seen, no one has addressed that exact issue,” he said.
McMillan said the California campaign is a bit more light-hearted and appears to be aimed at younger travellers.
“It makes it very clear that the state of California is not interested in aligning with the federal government’s policies when it relates to Canada,” McMillan said.
“For a lot of Canadians that have made an emotional decision to avoid the United States, this might resonate with them.”
Lesley Keyter, the CEO and founder of the Travel Lady agency in Calgary, said traveller concerns and anxieties are real, so much so they are voting with their wallets — or voting to abandon their wallets.
“I’ve seen people actually forfeit money to cancel their trips to go down there,” Keyter said in an interview.
“Even if they’re going on a Caribbean cruise, they don’t want to go down to Fort Lauderdale to get on the cruise ship.”
