Canadian visitors drop 45% at U.S. ski resorts and border towns are hurting

Mountain bookings plunge past 45%

Canadian bookings at U.S. mountain destinations dropped more than 45% in January 2026 compared to a year earlier, according to Inntopia Business Intelligence.

The pullback isn’t just hitting ski resorts. Hockey tournaments, school trips, and border-town businesses are all feeling it.

Statistics Canada data shows car trips from Canada to the U.S. fell about 27% in January, while air travel dipped roughly 18%.

Meanwhile, Canadian flights to overseas destinations climbed about 11%, a sign travelers are going elsewhere, not staying home.

Jay Peak depends on Canadian dollars

Jay Peak Resort in Jay, Vt., sits just nine miles south of the Canadian border. Canadians make up about half its revenue and 60% of its profits.

That makes the resort, a $70 million operation with skiing, an indoor waterpark, an ice arena, a golf course, and event space, especially exposed to the downturn.

The town of Jay has about 550 full-time residents, but during peak weekends, as many as 10,000 visitors crowd the mountain and its facilities.

Resort boss called 100 passholders himself

Steve Wright, Jay Peak’s president and general manager, saw the trouble early. Canadian season pass renewals dropped 35% at the start of summer 2025.

So Wright picked up the phone and called about 100 Canadian passholders to ask why they hadn’t come back. Many got emotional during the conversations.

On June 12, 2025, Wright testified before a U.S. Senate forum on tariffs, invited by Vermont Sen. Peter Welch. He told lawmakers Canadian hotel bookings at Jay Peak fell 45% between January and April 2025.

Schools and hockey teams stop crossing

Canadian school trips that once packed the 3,800-foot mountain and its waterpark have disappeared.

Hockey teams have pulled out of tournaments at the resort’s indoor rink too. Jay Peak hosts about 40 hockey tournaments a year, and those events bring in millions.

Wright has pointed out that when Canadian teams skip these events, it also hurts American teams looking for cross-border competition.

The loss reaches well beyond lift ticket sales.

Jay Peak treats Canadian cash at par

Jay Peak now accepts Canadian cash at par on certain products, including lift tickets, waterpark passes, golf rounds, and tram rides.

Guests need to show proof of Canadian residency, and credit card purchases still go through in U.S. dollars. For lodging packages, Canadians can pay half the cost in Canadian cash at par, with the rest due at check-in.

The policy helped narrow the visitor decline to single digits during the late December and early January holiday stretch, boosted by a record snow season.

Vermont feels the squeeze statewide

Tourism makes up close to 10% of Vermont’s gross domestic product.

Car border crossings between Vermont and Canada fell about 31% from January through November 2025 compared to the year before.

Canadian credit card spending in the state dropped 44% in November 2025 alone. The numbers show how much the state’s economy depends on its northern neighbors.

Vermont officials have started diplomatic outreach to Canada to try to rebuild trust and get visitors coming back.

Big Sky stops marketing to Canadians

Big Sky, Mont., saw a 16% drop in Canadian visits, and the community lost about half a million dollars in revenue.

Brad Niva, CEO of Visit Big Sky, told CBC News that some Canadian visitors said they plan to skip U.S. travel for several years.

Niva decided to halt all marketing to Canadians and let time heal the relationship. Visa credit card data showed Canadian spending in Big Sky fell close to 17% from January through September 2025.

Other towns try discounts and welcome passes

Not every community gave up on Canadian visitors.

Kalispell, Mont., first paused its Canadian advertising after getting negative responses, then launched a “Canadian Welcome Pass” offering discounts at local businesses.

Minot, N.D., rolled out deals aimed only at Canadians. But some places are still losing ground. Holiday Valley Ski Resort in Ellicottville, N.Y., expects fewer Canadian visitors for spring break after school groups refused to cross the border.

The Adirondack region in New York reported millions in lost revenue.

Manitoba school divisions ban U.S. trips

The Red River Valley School Division in Manitoba ended all school-sanctioned international travel in January 2026, pointing to safety and geopolitical concerns.

The Seine River School Division near Winnipeg also barred U.S. travel and started offering European trips instead.

Several other Manitoba divisions, including the Winnipeg School Division and Pembina Trails, followed with similar cuts.

Neither students nor families have pushed back on any of the decisions.

Canadians spend their travel money elsewhere

Canadian domestic tourism got stronger in 2025.

The World Travel and Tourism Council forecast domestic tourist spending would hit about $104 billion by year’s end. Flights to Mexico climbed nearly 16% year over year.

Tour operators reported a 30% drop in bookings for U.S. Disney vacations from Canadian travelers, with some families choosing Disneyland Paris instead.

Royal Bank of Canada data shows Canadians are putting more of their travel budgets toward trips inside their own country.

Airlines pull hundreds of thousands of US seats

Canadian airlines cut about 450,000 seats on U.S. routes in the first quarter of 2026. Air Transat dropped all U.S. flights, eliminating its last routes to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

WestJet trimmed U.S. capacity by 19%, and Air Canada cut its own by 7%. Air Canada said it sees no sign the decline in cross-border travel demand will turn around anytime soon.

The seat cuts make it harder for Canadians who do want to visit to find affordable flights.

Recovery could take years to arrive

Inntopia’s senior vice president of business intelligence has said the U.S. travel industry shouldn’t expect a Canadian recovery anytime soon.

Wright remains hopeful things will eventually improve, but he’s acknowledged the downturn could stick for some travelers.

Canadians are building new travel habits, and tourism operators worry those habits may become permanent.

Border economy businesses from Vermont to Montana are bracing for continued declines well into 2026 and possibly beyond.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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