Canadians love to travel. However, this year the vacations continue, but the destinations have changed.  

Kristen Bell with Valente Travel in Windsor, Ontario — just across the river from Detroit — says there’s been no shortage of people taking trips.

“We’re very busy, travel is definitely not down,” Bell said.

In an average year Canadians would spend about $20 billion in the U.S. But now? “We send a lot of people to Europe,” Bell said.

The backdrop to all of this is that Canada and the U.S. continue to sort out a deal on tariffs and the relationship between the two countries and its residents has gotten sticky.

Bookings overseas have gone up 10% and flights to the U.S. by Canadians have dropped nearly a quarter compared to this time last year.

Tara Elliott of Windsor normally visits family in the U.S. a couple times a year. But she won’t make those trips right now. 

“My aunts live in Michigan. My sister lives in Troy, Michigan. I have a sister who lives in Texas. I'm just not comfortable right now,” Elliott said. “For now, until I feel like things settle down, I’d rather just stay over here.”

It’s not just air travel. Fewer Canadians are taking car trips, too. Border crossings into the U.S. were down by a third in June. That’s the sixth consecutive month crossings have declined, year-over-year.

The result has been noticeable, according to Michel Soucisse. He manages the El Moore, an all-brick upscale lodge in Midtown Detroit in the heart of the city’s cultural and food scenes.

“Unfortunately, border towns feel this first, and our businesses are the ones who are absorbing the impact first,” Soucisse said.

The Canadian-American says his business is down 15% this year after several years of post-lockdown recovery. He thinks that once the tariff chaos from the Trump Administration dies down it’s likely Canadians will return.

“We're gonna have to earn their trust again,” Soucisse said.

Those efforts are already underway, according to Bell. She has dual citizenship and said Americans are looking to make amends by traveling to Canada.

“You know, we definitely have a certain amount of Americans who know we're their neighbors, and they want to be neighborly,” Bell said. “So we see that. It's very nice.”

She says what’s not so nice is the uncertainty that comes with the current U.S.-Canadian relationship.