A Buffalo marketing campaign aimed at Canadian visitors failed to restore the usual summer influx, despite a $500 gift card giveaway and more than 1,000 entrants. Cities from northern border towns to Las Vegas and Los Angeles reported fewer foreign visitors this summer. Industry experts and some officials link the downturn, noticed since February, to President Donald Trump's return to office and policies such as tariffs, stricter immigration enforcement and provocative rhetoric about acquiring territories. The World Travel & Tourism Council projected the U.S. would be the only one of 184 countries with a drop in foreign visitor spending in 2025.
The marketing campaign, which included a $500 gift card giveaway, was meant to show Buffalo's northern neighbors they were welcome, wanted and missed. At first, it seemed like it might work, said Patrick Kaler, CEO of the local tourism organization Visit Buffalo Niagara. More than 1,000 people entered the giveaway. But by the end of July, it was clear the city's reliable summer wave of Canadian visitors would not arrive this year.
Experts and some local officials attribute the trend that first emerged in February to President Donald Trump's return to the White House. They say his tariffs, immigration crackdown and repeated jabs about the U.S. acquiring Canada and Greenland alienated travelers from other parts of the world. To see the traffic drop off so significantly, especially because of rhetoric that can be changed, is so disheartening, Kaler said.
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