Canada travel to Florida dips amid U.S. tensions, sparking new outreach by state tourism leaders

Tourism leaders in Florida are reaching out to their Canadian counterparts as the U.S. faces a travel backlash tied to the words and actions of President Donald Trump.

As Visit Florida compiles its 2025 tourism figures, the agency's President and CEO Bryan Griffin and Carol Dover, the president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, are setting up a meeting with Canadian officials.

"We had this opportunity land in our lap, so we're both going to have a meeting… and see what we can do," Dover said during a Visit Florida Executive Committee meeting last Monday.

Dover is also a member of the Visit Florida Board of Directors.

Florida tourism leaders target Canada amid travel concerns

Griffin, who was Gov. Ron DeSantis' communications director before taking over the tourism agency last summer, is also set to participate in trade shows and possible media appearances over the next couple of months in Toronto and Vancouver.

"We're doing what we can, just as we are with any country outside the United States, to make sure that visitation remains strong," Griffin said.

In December, Visit Florida estimated that 34.339 million people traveled to the state between the start of July and the end of September 2025, up from 34.239 million during the same third-quarter period in 2024. The figures showed slight year-to-year growth in overseas visitors and domestic travelers.

However, as Mr. Trump has wielded tariffs and rhetoric, such as suggesting the U.S.'s northern neighbor become the 51st state, relations between the U.S. and Canada have cooled.

Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a high-profile visit to Beijing to discuss lowering some tariffs with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump responded on Truth Social that "China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen." 

Trump added that "I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!"

Florida Canadian visitor numbers show declines, mixed signals ahead

Visit Florida estimated in December that the state welcomed 507,000 Canadian visitors during the third quarter of 2025, down from 597,000 in the third quarter of 2024. That total is also the lowest for any quarter since the fourth quarter of 2021, when just 275,000 Canadians traveled to Florida.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the third-quarter high for Canadian visitors was 703,000 in 2019.

Statistics Canada reported last month that in November the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. fell 23.6% year over year, with air travel down 12.1%. Meanwhile, Canadians returning home from overseas destinations by air increased 14.1% during the same period.

Visit Florida is expected to release fourth-quarter numbers and overall 2025 estimates within a couple of weeks. Domestic and Canadian figures have yet to be finalized.

Griffin called recent Canadian numbers he has seen "positive."

"November's and December's figures are the strongest Canadian travel that we've had since February," Griffin said.

Griffin also shared figures from Florida's top overseas travel markets.

He said that for all of 2025, travel to Florida from Brazil rose 10.4%. The United Kingdom recorded a 6% increase, while visits from Colombia were up 6% compared to 2024.