Discovering America: Canada Still Largest Market, USD 18B Spend Forecast
More flights than ever. A growing sports tourism market. And the 100th anniversary of America’s most famous road. Canadians continue to flock to the U.S. in huge numbers, and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.
Discover America Canada Day was held in Toronto on 30OCT, with more than two dozen exhibitors speaking with consumer and trade media (including Open Jaw) on hand to chat about great destinations in the land of Uncle Sam.
According to U.S. Consul General Baxter Hunt, 22.7 million Canadian visits are expected to the U.S. this year (more than any country in the world), with a total spending of USD$18.2 billion. That not only supports airlines and hotels, but also tons of small businesses that rely on tourism.
“Canadians are experienced U.S. travellers and they often visit many locations,” Hunt said. Research shows that 45% of Canadian visit two or three cites or destinations per visit, while 11% visit four or more places.
“Canadians take advantage of the proximity and easy travel between our two nations and our U.S. destinations know it,” Hunt added.
During the lunch, guest speaker Raina Williams, vice-president, Expedia Group Media Solutions, provided an overview on key data findings from a recent survey, which highlighted travel trends and patterns regarding Canadian travellers, and former Toronto Blue Jays player Dalton Pompey made a guest appearance to discuss his sports career, as sports tourism continues to be a driving force of Canadian visitation to the U.S.
The U.S. in 2026 will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Route 66, which runs from Chicago to Santa Monica and features iconic sights, retro motels and old-time neon signs along the way.
Flying to the U.S. has never been easier thanks to more routes (new Porter Airlines flights to California, Arizona and Florida, for example) and easier passage through U.S. Customs.
The U.S. border patrol currently operates in eight Canadian airports, with newly announced plans to expand to Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto,” Hunt said. “Pre-clearance at these airports enhances passenger convenience, allowing U.S. bound travellers to clear U.S. customs and immigration before takeoff. Travellers then by-pass inspections upon arrival in the U.S. and proceed directly to their destination or connecting flight.”
Hunt said music tourism has long been a big draw for U.S. destinations. Now, sports is become in much more important part of the travel spectrum for big U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Miami.
“According to the Sports Travel Road Game report, 42% of Canadians are more likely to travel and see a game, rather than attend a game at home or in their closest sports city.”
That’s hardly a surprise to anyone who’s been to a game in, say, Nashville when the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens are playing, or to Seattle when the Blue Jays are in town for a baseball game.
The World Cup finals in 2026 will be held in New York (okay, New Jersey), and the Summer Olympics will touch down in Los Angeles in 2028. There’s also the yearly Super Bowl extravaganza. The 2025 game will be held in New Orleans, while San Francisco (okay, Santa Clara) will host in 2026 and Los Angeles in 2027.
More than 24 U.S. travel partners were on hand for Discover America Day Canada, including representatives from Fort Myers, Orlando, Kissimmee, Santa Monica, California, Chicago, Detroit, Texas, New Hampshire, Virginia, Colorado, and more.
Raina Williams, Senior Regional Manager, Business Development – Canada at Expedia Group, spoke at lunch and said major trends for the coming year include what Expedia calls Set-Jetting, where people travel to see where their favourite movies or TV shows are filmed. A recent Expedia survey found 53% of travellers have booked a trip based on a fave TV show or movie, she said.
Other big trends are Destination Dupes, where travellers seek out places that are similar to popular cities or countries, but less crowded. Think Perth, Australia instead of Sydney, or Valencia versus Barcelona. “Tour Tourism” remains a big deal in travel these days, as people head out to see the likes of Taylor Swift, Beyonce or Oasis in concert.
And here’s something interesting: if you’re an agent or a tour operator writing about a destination or hotel, Williams noted that posts that use “vibe” terms like hip, chill, vintage, artsy, retro and funky tend to perform better online.
For the second quarter of 2024, the 10 most searched US. destinations from Canada were, in order, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, San Francisco, Nashville, Chicago and Boston.
One fun part of the day came after lunch, when former Toronto Blue Jay and Mississauga native Dalton Pompey spoke about travel and his life as a pro baseball player. One great story involved a group of Blue Jay rookies being forced by senior players to walk back to their hotel in their uniforms after a road game. There were Jays fans around, so Pompey said they stopped at a couple bars along the way and dragged the fans along with them.
He also talked about the joys of being a New York Yankees fan as a kid (sorry about the World Series result, Dalton) and then appearing in a game at Yankee stadium as a Blue Jay. His idol as a boy, New York’s legendary Derek Jeter, walked up to him and said hello; a thrill Pompey said he’ll never forget.
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