New data: CA tourism plummeted in February and March, including sharp decline from Canada

SAN FRANCISCO -- New data released shows that California tourism took a major hit in February and March.

Experts say this is in large part due to the decline in international tourists from countries like Canada, Mexico and the U.K.

A Visit California graph shows that there was actually a 15.5% drop from Canadians alone, but it's not just tariffs and immigration enforcement that has impacted the state.

"First you have the loonie was at its weakest at the end of November, then you have the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, and then you have all this tension, the trade tariff tension," said Amra Durakovic of Flight Centre Travel Group, which is based out of Toronto, Canada.

The Visit California graph shows the declines in California non-residents visiting actually started last year, then took a huge dive in both February and March.

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ABC7 talked with tourists at Fisherman's Wharf Sunday; and while they are loving California and San Francisco, they also say it's very expensive, which is a huge deal right now.

"I'm from Brazil and the trip is very good nice, I love San Francisco," said Marco Achado of Brazil.

"The Ghirardelli ice cream was amazing we did the world famous sundae and I'm not even a sweets person and that was delicious," said Sally Newey of Oklahoma.

Those tourists also say it's very expensive, which is a huge deal right now.

"One dollar is 6 reals, it's a lot of money for us," said Marco Achado of Brazil.

"Some foods are more expensive than in Switzerland," said Sarah Schilter of Switzerland. "...We were a little shocked, we didn't imagine this."

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ABC7 spoke with two different groups of Canadians, who were hesitant to speak on camera over fears that it could create problems for them going through customs. One told us had they not already booked their trip to San Francisco, they probably wouldn't have come.

That said, there is hope.

"A three month period from November 2024 until January 2025, we saw a 20% cancellation rate of Canada to US preexisting bookings," said Durakovic. "However we haven't seen many cancellations since then. In February there was a 10% decrease in corporate bookings from Canada to the US, but that gap narrowed in March to only 1% and we're actually trending a little upwards right now in April."

With a California focus now on getting Canadians back, there's a hope that trend continues.

You can find more information on the data that Visit California released here.