Stratford residents are increasingly not choosing the United States as a travel destination, according to a local travel company.
Rob Blowes, travel advisor and owner of the Blowes&Stewart Travel Group in Stratford, says there has been a dramatic decrease in residents flying to U.S., “probably 80 percent less than normal.”
He says the main reason behind this change is political.
“People have made a decision to spend their money elsewhere,” said Blowes.
“Because of the decrease in the traffic, the airlines have also reduced capacity. With reduced capacity, you sometimes have increased pricing as well, a double-edged sword.”
According to recent data from Statistics Canada, this May saw 2.3 million Canadians return from the United States, a 31.9 percent decrease year-over-year.
Canadians returning by flight dropped from 863,362 last May to 713,375, a 17.4 percent decline. Only 1.4 million people returned by automobile, a 37.4 percent drop compared to the 2.3 million last May.
These decreases in travelling come as Canada and the U.S. are currently in a trade and tariff war.
Blowes adds instead of the U.S., residents have flown to other places in Canada and parts of Europe like the UK, Italy, and Spain.
He anticipates the number of visits to Mexico and the Caribbean to go up this winter as warm weather alternatives to Florida and Texas.
