Travel agent sees clients cancel trips to Hawaii after B.C. urges vacationers to avoid the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, set to take effect in less than a week, are putting travellers off holidaying in the U.S., says tourism businesses

A Vancouver Island travel agent says an increasing number of clients are opting not to travel to the United States for vacations following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

“There’s a lot of people saying avoid the ‘U.S. of A’ now; I’ll go elsewhere but not to the States,” Doreen White, manager of Marlin Travel Group, said Monday.

White attributes the lack of desire to travel to the United States to various factors, including the weakened Canadian dollar making travel there more expensive, the looming trade war, and B.C. Premier David Eby’s exhortation last week for people not to travel there on vacation.

“We should really be thinking carefully about spending our money in that country,” he said last Tuesday.

White says shortly after Eby’s message last Tuesday, three customers cancelled trips to Hawaii. She’s worried the growing tensions could trigger another rough ride for tourism similar to the pandemic.

“I hope this is not the start of something like that,” she said, recalling how challenging the pandemic was for the tourism sector, when officials implemented rules preventing people from crossing borders for international travel.

Various members of the Victoria tourism industry declined interviews Monday, telling CTV they didn’t want to potentially inflame the already tense situation and hoping these tariff threats soon blow over.

Others think the deterrent to travel south could result in more so-called “staycations,” benefitting local businesses.

Michael J. Ballingall at Big White Ski Resort says bookings from locals are indeed up.

“A lot of kids, when they get out of school, the families are taking them to Hawaii. That’s not happening this year,” he said Monday. “We’re seeing a lot more bookings at spring break, B.C. family day is over 90 per cent occupancy already, we’re starting to see them stay home.”

Many in the tourism sector are anxiously waiting to see what happens Feb. 1, the date Trump floated for imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, just five days away.