TALLAHASSEE — Tourism leaders in Florida are reaching out to their Canadian counterparts as the U.S. has seen a travel backlash over the words and actions of President Donald Trump.
As Visit Florida compiles 2025 tourism figures, the agency’s President and CEO Bryan Griffin and Carol Dover, the president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, are setting up a meeting with Canadian officials.
“We had this opportunity land in our lap, so we’re both going to have a meeting … and see what we can do,” Dover said during a Jan. 26 Visit Florida Executive Committee meeting.
Dover is also a member of the Visit Florida Board of Directors.
Griffin, who was Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications director before taking over the tourism agency last summer, is also set to participate in trade shows and possible media appearances over the next couple of months in Toronto and Vancouver.
“We’re doing what we can, just as we are with any country outside the United States, to make sure that visitation remains strong,” Griffin said.
In December, Visit Florida estimated 34.339 million people traveled into the state between the start of July and end of September, up from 34.239 million during the same third quarter period in 2024. The numbers showed slight year-to-year growth in overseas visitors and domestic travelers.
However, as President Trump had wielded tariffs and rhetoric, such making the United States’ northern neighbor the 51st state, relations between America and Canada have chilled.
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Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a high-profile visit to Beijing to discuss lowering some tariffs with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump responded on Truth Social that “China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen.” Trump added that “I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!”
Meanwhile, Visit Florida in December estimated the state had 507,000 Canadian visitors during the third quarter of 2025, down from 597,000 in the third quarter of 2024. The total is also the lowest for any quarter since the fourth quarter of 2021, when just 275,000 Canadians made their way to Florida.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the third quarter high for Canadians was 703,000 visitors in 2019.
Statistics Canada, the nation’s statistical office, reported last month that in November the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States was down 23.6% year over year, with those traveling by air off 12.1%. Meanwhile, Canadians flying home from overseas destinations were up 14.1% during the same time.
Visit Florida is expected to have fourth-quarter numbers and the 2025 overall estimates within a couple of weeks. Domestic and Canadian numbers have yet to be finalized.
Griffen called recent Canadian numbers he’s seen “positive.”
“November’s and December’s figures are the strongest Canadian travel that we’ve had since February,” Griffin said.
Griffin was able to provide numbers from the top three sources of overseas travelers to Florida.
Griffin said that for all of 2025, travelers to Florida from Brazil were up 10.4%. The United Kingdom saw a 6% increase. And visits from Colombia were 6% higher than in 2024.
