SUNSET BEACH, Fla. — A local real estate management company is feeling the impact of Canadians not traveling to Florida.
It is hard to track how many Canadians are boycotting the Sunshine State, but some data is supporting a drop in tourists from our neighbor to the North.
According to Emily Nipps, a spokesperson at Tampa International Airport, "Airlines flying between Tampa International Airport and Canadian cities reduced seat capacity by 12% for April compared to projections made in January."
However, Nipps said, "Our passenger traffic in March was actually slightly up year-over-year. The primary reason for this was Porter Airlines added some new Canadian service that was not offered at TPA in March of last year. TPA also has not lost nonstop service to any Canadian destinations so far in 2025, and we still plan to launch nonstop service to Vancouver on both Air Canada and WestJet in June."
Data analytics firm OAG said bookings on Canada-U.S. flights are down 70%.
At Treasure Island, ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska met with Hendrik Bisanz, co-owner ofSea Salt Property Management. Bisanz said repeat clients from Canada are not booking at his Airbnb.
"Definitely, we've had a big drop in Canadian visitors. And I've actually called several of them that used to come every year and spend a lot of money on these beachfront rentals. And yeah, they're saying, 'Sorry buddy, we're out for the foreseeable future,'" Bisanz said.
"The Florida market is so intertwined with Canadians," Paluska said.
"Canadians are our number one foreign visitor group. So they bring a lot of money here. And yeah, we're noticing it. We're feeling it in a time where, you know, we've spent basically all the money that we made in the previous years, we spent it in the last six months following the hurricane. So now we need to make money again, and it's being made hard for no good reason," Bisanz said.
It wasn't hard to find a Canadian on the beach. The first person Paluska walked up to happened to be from Winnipeg.
"You're not boycotting America?" Paluska asked Jeremy Feuer.
"No, absolutely not. We come down every chance we get. We love it down here for obvious reasons. The people are wonderful. The weather is fantastic," Feuer said.
"What do you think is going on where some Canadians don't feel the same way you do? If that's true, some of your friends, I mean, are you hearing anything in your area about people not wanting to come here?" Paluska asked.
"Honestly, most Canadians I talk to are not terribly concerned about who's in the White House. I think a much bigger factor for Canadians right now is economics. Yeah, so the Canadian dollars at almost an all-time low, and it becomes cost-prohibitive to travel to the U.S. for that reason," Feuer said.
Feuer owns a home in Sunset Beach. During Hurricane Helene, he got four feet of water from the storm surge. This was his first trip back where he didn't have to do any home repairs. When Paluska asked what his plans were, he said he was going to sit on the beach, enjoy the waves, and chill.
"I feel so happy. After everything that’s happened, it’s a blessing"
After the Desir family lost their car due to flooding during Hurricane Milton, they received a much-needed boost: a replacement car six months later.
