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More Booking Chaos as Trump Revives Travel Ban

Canadian travel to the US has been in freefall this year, driven by escalating tariffs and President Donald Trump’s repeated musings about making Canada the 51st state. Now, citing national security concerns, Trump has signed a sweeping new travel proclamation that bars or partially restricts entry to the United States for nationals from nearly 20 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

The proclamation, set to take effect at 12:01am EST on 09JUN, includes a full ban on nationals from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Additional travel restrictions are being applied to nationals from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

“We don’t want them,” Trump said as he announced the ban.

During his first term as POTUS, Trump enacted the controversial “Muslim ban” in 2017, which caused immediate global drops in US-bound bookings and created major headaches for travel advisors managing shifting client plans.

International bookings to the US fell roughly 6.5% within weeks of the 2017 ban, with travel from the Middle East plunging more than 37%. Airlines such as Emirates cut flights to the US, while Canadian tour operators reported steep declines in bookings to American destinations.

Travel advisors in Canada should brace for more cancellations and a growing number of travellers requesting itinerary changes to avoid US connections, complicating flight planning and routing.

Independent aviation consultant John Strickland told Reuters in 2017 that travel bans create widespread disruption.

“[They] bring a mix of administrative confusion, impact, and uncertainty for many travellers, as well as practical operational headaches and complexities for airlines in planning their flight programs.”

The impact of such bans goes well beyond travel logistics, stirring fierce criticism from human rights advocates speaking out against Trump’s latest ban.

“This policy is not about national security – it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,” Abby Maxman, President of Oxfam America, told the Associated Press.

The ban comes amid significant drops in Canadian travel to the US.

For April, Statistics Canada reported a sharp decline in travel by Canadians returning from US trips. Air return trips dropped 19.9% year-over-year, while land border returns plunged 35.2%. Meanwhile, Canadian travel from overseas countries increased 9.9%, helping keep overall Canadian return trips from all countries down by a modest 1.7%.

Many Canadians are avoiding US travel due to stricter border scrutiny, increased detention risks and a growing boycott mindset. This new travel ban adds another barrier — and reason — for Canadians to steer clear of the US altogether, including even transit points.

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