Louisiana's tourism leaders concerned about anxious Canadian travelers
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Canadians' desire to visit the U.S. is absolutely tanking, new data suggests, and that's bad news for Louisiana.
Why it matters: President Trump's tariffs and insistence that Canada should become the 51st American state are fueling a remarkable rally-round-the-flag effect up north.
- Canadian patriotism is skyrocketing alongside disdain for all things American throughout the Great White North.
The big picture: Canada is New Orleans' top market of origin for international visitors by a large margin, according to New Orleans & Co., the city's tourism arm.
- Walt Leger, the group's president and CEO, tells Axios he's hearing from visitors and travel partners about their "distaste" for the political climate.
- The city has had some cancellations, but he says those have been isolated so far.
- It's a "concern," he says, but it's not a trend showing up in the data yet.
What he's saying: "We also recognize that sometimes it's hard to know if your phone is not ringing, and I think it's fair to say that based on the sentiment we're hearing, we think that there's probably some slowdown in lead volume and other things," Leger says.
Between the lines: New Orleans & Co. hosted a group of Canadian journalists last week in an effort to showcase what the city has to offer.
- The trip was planned before the tariffs were announced, leaders say.
Zoom out: Canada is also Louisiana's top international market, according to the state's tourism office.
- "I'm hoping these trade wars can be put to bed quickly because it will affect our numbers from Canada," Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said at a conference last month, according to The Acadiana Advocate.
Case in point: Four busloads of Canadian tourists canceled their plans to attend this fall's Grand Réveil Acadien in Lafayette, writes The Acadiana Advocate's Claire Taylor.
- The Canadians cited political uncertainty as one of the reasons.
Threat level: A mere 10% drop in Canadian visitors could cost U.S. businesses as much as $2.1 billion in revenue, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
State of play: Advance bookings for Canada-U.S. flights in April-September are down more than 70% compared with this time last year, per aviation data firm OAG.
- "This sharp drop suggests that travelers are holding off on making reservations, likely due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the broader trade dispute," writes OAG chief analyst John Grant.
- Airlines are also reducing transborder capacity — a strong signal that they, too, are seeing (or at least predicting) less demand.
Yes, but: At least one airline is calling OAG's data into question.
- The numbers are "not reflective of Air Canada's booking patterns, nor the state of the market, based on all information sources available to us," an Air Canada spokesperson told travel news site The Points Guy.
- Yet the spokesperson confirmed there's been a "softening" in demand, and the airline has trimmed capacity accordingly.
What we're watching: Reluctance to visit the U.S. this summer may not be a strictly Canadian phenomenon.
- Travel message boards and chat groups lit up recently with worries about being detained upon entry.