Trump has averred that Canadian sentiment will change<\/a> once a new trade deal is worked out.<\/p>\n Over the years, Canadians have come in numbers that far and away outstrip any other country of origin among international tourists visiting Florida, both U.S. and Canadian officials say.<\/p>\n \u201cWe stay longer and we spend more because many people own second homes here,\u201d said Sylvia Cesaratto, the Canadian consul general based in Miami.<\/p>\n Cesaratto, who took over her post in 2022, said that in 2024, the number of Americans traveling into Canada was 14 million, while the number of Canadians heading south into the U.S. was 20 million.<\/p>\n Last year, 3.3 million Canadians came to Florida, which she called \u201cthe top destination in the U.S. for Canadians by a wide margin.\u201d<\/p>\n But between January and September in 2025, the number of Canadians visiting the U.S. was down 21%. And sentiment among Canadians toward planning trips to the U.S. in the next 12 months has also shown a steady decline.<\/p>\n Hoteliers report a ripple effect on the restaurants, retail operations and other local businesses that make money from the visitors.<\/p>\n At the Atlantic Hotel & Spa across State Road A1A from Fort Lauderdale Beach, Amy Faulkner, the director of sales and marketing, has been scrambling to find replacement visitors for Canadians who decided to stay home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are down 4.9% for the first six months, since January 2025,\u201d she said in an interview at the condo-hotel hotel, where owners can rent their units to short- to intermediate-term visitors. Many of the owners \u2014 and renters \u2014 are Canadians.<\/p>\n \u201cThis hotel is set up to be a liveable situation for Canadians who can stay up to six months,\u201d Faulkner said. \u201cTheir not coming is not like I\u2019m losing two or three nights. I\u2019m losing three months. My spa is losing money. My restaurant is losing money. My valet is losing money.\u201d<\/p>\n Other hotels catering to Canadians face similar impacts, she said, as do restaurants, transportation providers and attractions such as museums.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s affecting all of us. We need to make up for this loss of Canadian business. We miss them. We feel the pain. We want them back.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she is working on an offer to lure them back.<\/p>\n In Hollywood, Richard Clevet, owner and proprietor of multiple 20- to 30-room hotels and motels in the city since he arrived in South Florida from Quebec several decades ago, said he wishes the political rhetoric over tariffs, border crossings and the \u201c51st state\u201d would evaporate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was difficult last spring,\u201d he said. \u201cMarch was bad. April was bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt started very slow in November,\u201d Clavet added. \u201cWe had a few come in. The first snowstorm generated a lot of phone calls. A lot of them are going to hit the road this Friday night as soon as school and offices are closed.\u201d<\/p>\n He was expecting 30 to 35 people with children over the weekend. \u201cYou\u2019ll see those blue and white tags headed this way for a two-week stay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition, 2026 winter bookings for Richard\u2019s Motel, Richard\u2019s Hotel and Richard\u2019s Pet Friendly, among others, appear to be looking up.<\/p>\n![\"Atlantic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TFL-L-SOUTH-FLORIDA-CANADIANS2.jpg\")
Atlantic Hotel & Spa sales and marketing director Amy Faulkner has traveled south \u2014 to Brazil \u2014 to find replacement business for the luxury condo-hotel with beach and ocean views. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
![\"With](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TFL-L-SOUTH-FLORIDA-CANADIANS-3-121825.jpg\")
Air Canada, the biggest airline serving Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to and from Canada, saw a number of year-over-year monthly passenger declines in 2025. (Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n