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Comment by pixelesque | Hacker News Reader

I doubt it's that high with loads of Canadians not visiting the US.

I planned last year to stop off in Hawaii and Seattle on the way from NZ to the UK this May, but in March this year I altered that and just did Vancouver instead as the stop-off.

I know several friends and colleages who have also done similar (even two didn't go to weddings of friends in the US).

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You're exaggerating the significance of Canadians in US tourism statistics. NY and MA have larger populations than ON and QC, Canada's two largest provinces. Therefore, even "loads" is a relatively small number.

A lot of Canadian “tourism” isn’t of the stay in a series of hotels for two weeks variety. It’s cross the border to attend a concert or sporting event. Grab a bite to eat and stock up at Walmart/Costco/<insert favorite store here> before heading home. Sales at the Costco nearest the border with BC were down 20% at the same time Costco was seeing increased sales nationwide.

Then why are all the border states, towns and cities (and their elected representatives) begging Canadian tourists to come back, with endless advertisements, appeals to our historic friendship, temporarily re-naming streets ("Canada Street", really? Can't wait for the photo-op of an ICE raid happening there) and even silly incentives (like a 3-pack of free golf balls in one case)...?

Yeah, good luck downplaying the 12+ billion the US tourism industry is about to lose this year.

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