Canadians put off by Trump’s bluster and border arrests are booking far fewer US visits

By ROB GILLIES and JIM MORRIS Associated Press VANCOUVER British Columbia AP Diana and Rick Bellamy initially planned to take a Caribbean cruise out of Houston before heading to Laurel Mississippi to visit the home of one of their favorite HGTV shows Home Town The Calgary couple scrapped those plans and vacationed last month along Mexico s Pacific coast instead put off by U S President Donald Trump s commerce war with Canada the insults he s hurled at their homeland and stories about American confines agents searching people s phones and detaining foreigners for minor reasons She determined it ironic that she felt more relaxed traveling to Mexico than the U S I never thought I would hear myself say that Diane Bellamy disclosed Trump s attacks on Canada s financial system and threats to make it the st state have infuriated Canadians who are canceling trips to the U S in big numbers They also seem to have also flipped the narrative heading into Canada s parliamentary elections on Monday with Prime Minister Mark Carney s Liberal Party surging after trailing far behind in the polls just a sparse months ago A steep decline The U S gets more visitors from Canada each year than from any other country according to the U S Movement Association an industry transaction group which disclosed the million visits from Canada last year generated billion in spending But there has been a big drop in foreigners traveling to the U S since Trump took office and Canadians are no exception There were more than fewer land confines crossings from Canada into the U S last month than in March of a more than drop according to U S Customs and Demarcation Protection information An Air Canada spokesman meanwhile announced Canada-U S flight bookings for April through September are down about Trump brushed aside the decline in tourism to the United States on Wednesday saying There s a little nationalism there I guess perhaps It s not a big deal Traveler worries Since Trump started his second term there have been well-publicized reports of tourists being stopped at U S margin crossings and held for weeks at immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense On March Canadian Jasmine Mooney an actor and entrepreneur on a U S work visa was detained by U S boundary agents in San Diego She was disclosed after days detention Before Mooney s release British Columbia Premier David Eby expressed concern saying It certainly reinforces anxiety that a multitude of Canadians have about our relationship with the U S right now and the unpredictability of this administration and its actions The Canadian Association of University Teachers which represents faculty and staff at Canadian universities warned its members against nonessential excursion to the U S due to the political landscape under Trump and reports of Canadians encountering difficulties passing the perimeter Academics who have expressed negative views about the Trump administration should be particularly cautious about traveling to the U S reported the group People are scared to cross the demarcation I don t know what Americans are thinking quite frankly Are they that oblivious mentioned former Quebec Premier Jean Charest who has family in Florida Mike Sauer who runs a society policing center in Vancouver revealed he and his partner have no interest in traveling to the U S now because of Trump s politics and margin fears One of Sauer s concerns is that if a limit guard were to check his cellphone the guard might see his past purchases of marijuana which is legal to buy in Canada and about half the states but is still illegal under U S federal law The States have a different view on drugs They could certainly look at my phone and see I m -friendly he stated meaning he s marijuana-friendly I think it kind of depends on which confines guard would have a issue with that and which ones wouldn t Dietra Wilson noted when she was younger she often visited Detroit which is just across the demarcation from Windsor Ontario where she and her husband Ben own a secondhand shop She hasn t visited much in newest years though and she revealed she s heard of people s worries about traveling the margin since Trump moved back into the White House It s worrisome she disclosed Ben Wilson also has qualms about trying to cross Why would I want to he reported Regardless of the tariffs if I m going to be stopped at the territory line for my phone or something somebody texted me why go Industry worries The drop in Canadian tourism to the U S led California Gov Gavin Newsom a frequent target of Trump to announce an ad campaign this month meant to lure Canadians back to his state citing a year-on-year drop in February McKenzie McMillan a consultant with a Vancouver-based passage agency The Passage Group announced the company s bookings to the U S have dried up We have seen a near-total collapse of U S business he announced Allegedly about a drop since February Lesley Keyter the CEO and founder of the Movement Lady agency in Calgary reported she s seen people definitely forfeit money to cancel their U S trips 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 she reported Gillies stated from Toronto Associated Press reporter Corey Williams in Windsor Ontario contributed to this description