Highlights
- Canadian travel to the U.S. fell 25% in 2025, with return trips down for 11 consecutive months.
- Canadians spent $2.3 billion less on U.S. trips last year, with Arizona among the hardest-hit states.
- Arizona Chamber of Commerce CEO Danny Seiden says the drop confirms what the state had already been feeling on the ground.
- Seiden expressed optimism that Canadian visitors will return, citing deep ties between the two countries.
Canadian visitors, long among Arizona's most reliable winter guests, pulled back sharply in 2025, and the state's tourism economy is feeling it. A new report cited by Arizona's Family shows Canadian travel to the United States fell 25% last year, with return trips down for 11 straight months and Canadians spending $2.3 billion less on U.S. trips over the course of the year.
Arizona is among the states most affected. Canadians have historically ranked among the state's top international visitors, with a significant share becoming part-time residents. Experts attribute the decline to President Donald Trump's comments referring to Canada as the 51st state, according to the report.
Danny Seiden, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said the numbers confirm what the business community had already sensed. "But this report shows what we had kind of been feeling, and that is that a lot of that travel is down. Canadians have selected to not travel to the U.S. as much," Seiden said.
Seiden said Arizona is dealing with the tourism losses firsthand and described the situation as concerning, given how central tourism is to the state's economy. He said he remains optimistic that Canadian visitors will return, pointing to the depth of the relationship between the two countries.
The 25% decline figure has been independently corroborated by Axios and CBS News, both of which reported on the same underlying data. An earlier Axios Phoenix report noted that roughly 822,500 Canadians visited Arizona in 2023 and spent approximately $775 million in the state.
No timeline for a recovery has been announced.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 03/08/2026 14:29
- axios.com retrieved 03/08/2026 14:29
- cbsnews.com retrieved 03/08/2026 14:29
- axios.com retrieved 03/08/2026 14:29
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 03/08/2026 14:29. Every claim traces to a source.
