‘I definitely wouldn’t go there’: Manitobans rethink U.S. travel plans

Daniel Halmarson meets Manitobans who are cancelling trips to the United States amid the tense relationship between our two countries.

Some Manitobans are taking the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement a step further and rethinking upcoming travel plans to the United States.

People shopping at C.F. Polo Park on Tuesday afternoon told CTV News they had no plans to travel to the States – or cancelled upcoming trips to boycott the tariff threat issued by President Donald Trump.

“They are not supporting us in any way,” one shopper told CTV News. “It is too unpredictable to go anywhere these days, let alone there. I definitely wouldn’t go there.”

Milford Palmer, a tour consultant with Fehr-Way Tours, said his company hasn’t felt the impact just yet.

“Of course, there are some [customers] that are kind of leery about getting out of the country and visiting the States, but on the whole, most of them have been pretty positive,” Palmer told CTV News.

The Winnipeg-based company offers bus tours to destinations throughout North America including single-day shopping tours to Grand Forks and baseball tours to see the Toronto Blue Jays in Minneapolis.

“This spring, we’re going down into Texas. That’s kind of a chance to get away from the cold,” Palmer said.

He noted customers are still showing interest in that tour along with a trip to Nashville later this year.

“Quite often, it’s a bucket list item and that doesn’t get taken off the board just because there’s a little bit between us and the States happening.”

He added Fehr-Way Tours could see a lot more Canadians looking to explore their own backyard in the coming months and years.

Chuck Davidson, the president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said the ‘Buy Canada’ movement is being seen in several sectors including the travel industry.

“It’s really galvanized Canadians,” Davidson said. “And Manitoba is thinking more in terms of, ‘how do we support our own country? How do we make sure that we’re supporting some of these small businesses?’”

The U.S. Travel Association said Canadians made more than 20 million trips to the States last year. It warns a 10 per cent reduction in Canadians travelling south could mean more than $2.1 billion in lost spending annually.