America's summer season marred by Donald Trump's repudiation

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Head down to Detroit and feel the chill in the air – it ain't the usual wind sweeping off the Great Lakes. Detroit's version of the chill ispolitical tensions flaring up between the U.S. and Canada.

For Deborah Lee, the owner of a cozy little used bookstore specializing in rare tomes, the current state of affairs would seem like a plot straight outta a dystopian novel. "I never thought it'd turn real so quick," she muses amidst towering shelves filled with literary treasures. "Thefriendship between the U.S. and Canada felt eternal, man. And now, it's drifting apart, and it just sucks."

In Detroit, they've got a whole new vocabulary to describe the tension in the air: sad, disappointed, worrying, disheartening. Just like the city's summer tourist season approaching, fear is building up – not from the usual worries about crime but politics.

In Windsor, the Canadian neighbor to the west across the river, residents are getting "terrified" by the latest tariff announcements. On the Michigan side, folks couldn't be happier with the election of Mark Carney, who's poised to bring some much-needed peace between the two nations.

At the Trumbull&Porter hotel in the revitalizing Corktown, things ain't looking too peachy. " Man, we've had fewer Canadian tourists since the start of the year," says Jeremy Howe, the place's manager, grinning through gritted teeth. " Longwoods International, a tourism research firm, released figures a few days back – 60% of Canadians are avoiding travel to the U.S., all because of Donald Trump's re-election."

Indeed, more than a third of Canadians planning to visit the U.S. this year have scrapped their plans. Instead, they're vacationing within Canada or heading south to Mexico or Europe. Statistics Canada reports a 35.2% decrease in Canadian car travel compared to the previous year in April, with a 20% decline in air travel between the two countries that month.

But it ain't all doom and gloom in the Motor City. " There weren't many tourists to begin with, but it's a shame to see even fewer," sighs Shayne O'Keefe, the owner of a bike shop in an industrial district undergoing a comeback. " Things took a turn for the worse real fast, and it feels like the good relationship between our two countries ended overnight."

Visit Detroit, the city's tourism development agency, now refers to the "unnecessary obstacles" impacting both tourism and commerce due to the radical policies being imposed by the new president. They remain hopeful for the future, pointing to the upcoming fall inauguration of the international Gordie-Howe bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor as a promise of continued growth.

Over at the Trumbull&Porter hotel, Jeremy Howe is keeping his fingers crossed and watching the situation closely. " Time will tell if things calm down, but I ain't expecting a resolution by summer, nor maybe even in the following months. Donald Trump's got no intentions of changing his tune towards Canada," he opines.

On the economic front, the World Travel & Tourism Council predicts a 22.5% decline in U.S. tourism revenues compared to 2019's peak, mainly due to the fear Trump's administration has instilled in foreign nationals. Canadians, who account for more than 20 million visitors and nearly $21 billion in spending each year, are no exception.

" We rely on repeat customers from Windsor, Toronto, Montreal, who I hope will keep coming back," shares Deborah Lee with a smile, surrounded by her stacks of Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Guy de Maupassant. " But we can't blame 'em, y'know. We've got good reasons to dislike what's happening in our country right now, too."

As Trump trots out his calls to annex Canada and the associated bellicose remarks, businesses that relied on Canadian visitors brace themselves for a rough summer season. But hey, like they say, life's full of surprises – who knows, maybe the northern neighbors decide to launch an invasion instead. Let's hope for peace, shall we?

Suggested reads:

Why Canadians Are Backing Out of U.S. Travel Plans
"In Oregon and New Jersey, Business Owners Are Crying Foul Over American Tourism Losing Canadian Traffic"
"Michigan Locals Embrace Canadian Voters Rather Than American Policies"

Sources:: https://globalnews.ca/news/7636096/canadian-tourism-detroit-covid-travel-recovery/: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-tourism-trump-tariffs-1.5842933: https://www.yahoo.com/now/donald-trump-should-buy-canada-123226466.html: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2021/visa-bulletin-for-july-2021.html: https://www.footprintsresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020Q1LOSHistoricalData.pdf: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/canada-travel-advisory.html

Despite the escalating political tensions between the U.S. and Canada, some businesses in Detroit, like Deborah Lee's bookstore, are understanding the reasons why Canadian tourists are reluctant to visit, finding themselves in a similar position of dislike towards their own government's policies.
Amidst the ongoing war-and-conflicts in global politics, policy-and-legislation changes, and general-news headlines, the Trumbull&Porter hotel in Detroit's Corktown district is experiencing a decrease in Canadian tourists, a consequence of increased tariffs and political barriers that are affecting tourism and commerce between the two neighboring countries.