As Tariff Day Arrives, Air Canada ‘Concerned’ About U.S. Dropoff
By Jim Byers (OpenJaw)
The tariff waiting game is almost over for Canadians and the rest of the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump on 02 APR will reveal details of tariffs that could wreak havoc on travel to the U.S. Weeks of rumours about what Canadian products might be subject to tariffs and talk about Canada becoming a 51st state have already caused a major drop in Canadian travel to the States.
Prior to the reveal, Air Canada admitted to being concerned about the dropoff in cross-border traffic to the US.
Taking a walk on the Walsh side, in a story published by Reuters, the head of IATA, Willie Walsh said in looking at January figures, the looming tariffs had not yet hit global demand for flights.
“We’ll look at March and April as we get the figures there. But certainly in the figures that we have available to us, it’s not obvious that there’s been an impact,” he said.
Walsh’s optimism isn’t matched by the Accor hotel group, which includes Fairmont and dozens of other hotel brands. Accor on 01APR warned that forward bookings from Europe to the U.S. are down 25% this summer as travellers feel put off by Trump’s crackdown on immigration divert to other locations.
Meanwhile, it seems the US loss may be Bermuda’s gain.
“In the last several weeks, we’ve received 10-plus leads from Canadians seeking to relocate events from the United States this summer,” Diarmaid O’Sullivan, director of sales & marketing a Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club, told the BBC. “This is a mix of leisure travellers, including those planning weddings, and companies relocating business events. This represents an approximately 20% increase in forecasted revenue from the Canadian market.”
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