We’re past Memorial Day and kids are out of school. The summer tourism season is here.

But this year, Canadians are upset with President Donald Trump’s tariffs — and his talk of annexation. For that reason, many of our travel-happy neighbors to the north are staying out of the U.S.

Speaking with WDET, new U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra called Trump’s 51st state rhetoric “a sign of affection.”

“That may be the first time that America has extended an offer to someone else to become part of the country,” he said. “…why they’re offended by such a generous offer, I’m not sure.”

According to Statistics Canada, car trips by Canadians into the U.S. dropped by 35% in April; flights by Canadians into the U.S. are down by 20%; and border crossings between the two countries are now at their lowest levels since the 2020 pandemic.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says that’s not good for Michigan.

“We know that Canadians are our friends, they’re our extended relatives in many cases, in many families,” she said. “Michigan loves Canada. Our economies are intertwined.”

Whitmer says the president is killing the good vibes between the countries.

“The chaos on the Trump tariff talk is palpable,” Whitmer said. “You can you can feel it just talking to people here. You can feel it at home. We can feel it in our tourism.”

Canadians spend more than $360 million every year in Michigan on average — about 10% of the state’s total tourism revenue.

Michigan is consistently in the top six for Canadian tourist destinations, after bigger ones like Florida, California and Las Vegas.

As the CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan, Brian Calley knows the importance of the state’s tourism industry.

“We have year-round tourism, but summer is the time in Michigan where a lot of businesses make their opportunity,” Calley said.

The bigger challenge for resort towns is finding enough workers, he said, downplaying concerns about drops in Canadian tourism.

“Early indications are that that bookings are solid, that people are still booking hotels,” Calley said.

Though he acknowledged that a dip in tourism could possibly be felt more in communities near the border.

“[Places] where Canadians live right across the border and experience, in very short periods, shopping and things,” he said. “I think that’s probably more vulnerable than, say, the week-long family vacation.”

Michel Soucisse manages El Moore, a lodge offering overnight stays in Midtown Detroit. He says he agrees with Calley…to a point.

“We’re a border town, and unfortunately, border towns feel this first, and our businesses are the ones who are absorbing the impact first,” Soucisse said. “None of these small businesses asked for this. You know, we’re just sort of rolling with the punches. Everyone’s seeing a slow down. Everyone’s getting the emails saying ‘we’re sorry, but we’re not spending our money here right now.'”

Emails like those mean a hit to the bottom line.

“I would say it looks right now compared to last year and year over year that we’ve experienced something around a 15% drop in their travel,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think it’s going to change anytime soon.

“We already had so many regular guests, that it was really kind of heart wrenching for some folks to cancel plans that they had already made — sometimes a year in advance. But I don’t necessarily blame them,” Soucisse said. “This is a way that they can show us their displeasure with the current situation, and ‘this is the way we can protest.’”

The same is happening in Detroit’s emerging foodie scene.

Sandy Levine is a James Beard semi-finalist and the owner of two of Detroit’s most-heralded restaurants: Freya and Chartreuse. He says lots of Canadians used to make the trek over the border.

“A large amount of people have come to Detroit because they they heard really good things about it, and they just wanted to see for themselves. And you know, for the first time, that steady increase has kind of stopped,” Levine said. “We certainly still see people from Canada and from other countries, but it’s not nearly to the degree that it was maybe like six months ago or a year ago.”

Levine’s theory for the change? Again, bad vibes.

“There’s definitely a sense of just, kind of tension in this country, and I think a lot of the people are looking to just avoid that,” he said.

So if a city like Detroit is seeing an immediate impact, how about places not quite as close to the border?

Robert Chambers helps manage the Windermere Hotel, a bed and breakfast on Mackinac Island.

“We’ve definitely had some regulars who’ve had to cancel their reservation, and they’re from Northern Ontario. They stay with us every year,” Chambers said. “Unfortunately, about two months prior to our opening, though, they contacted us and said they wouldn’t be able to make it to the States this year.”

Chambers told WDET in late May that they didn’t have a single booking from a Canadian. It’s significant, even if Canadians don’t make up a large portion of their guests.

“So not a huge dip as far as numbers go, but we still really look forward to seeing friends and loyal customers at the hotel every year. It’s unfortunate that they can’t make it now,” he said.

And being over an hour away from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, he figures short term stays to the island will be limited too.

There’s a feeling — from some — that the bad vibes aren’t permanent. Or as Ambassador Hoekstra puts it: “The Canadians are, you know, they’re acting on emotion.”

Back in Detroit at the El Moore, Soucisse says that’s true. He became an American citizen a decade ago, but he’s originally from Montreal.

“I know for a fact that my French Canadian family — or as we call ourselves, Quebecois — do not want to be a 51st state, and will not be a 51st state,” Soucisse said. “I hear the steady drumbeat from my friends and family over there.”

He says Canadian guests have been pretty honest about their motivations for canceling upcoming reservations or choosing not to spend their money in the U.S. right now.

“I thought it was great that they were letting us know,” he said. “Oftentimes they would include messages like, you know, we’ll be back. You know, someday.”

With Trump’s trade war far from settled, a crackdown on immigrants and people from other countries, and ongoing threats to send federal troops into American cities, it’s unclear when that “someday” will be. That could pose a serious risk to a tourism industry that’s still recovering from the pandemic.