Anacortes Businesses Suffer as Canadian Tourism Declines Amid Trade and Immigration Tensions
Anacortes, Washington, is experiencing a significant decline in Canadian visitors due to U.S. trade policies and immigration enforcement, impacting local businesses. Canadian land arrivals dropped 32% in March 2025 compared to the previous year, with summer bookings down over 30%. Businesses like Adrift Restaurant report decreased sales, affecting local suppliers. The downturn is linked to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods and increased border detentions. The U.S. Travel Association warns the decline in international tourism could cost the U.S. economy $21 billion in 2025 if trends continue.
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Anacortes Businesses Suffer as Canadian Tourism Declines Amid Trade and Immigration Tensions
Anacortes, Washington, is experiencing a significant decline in Canadian visitors due to U.S. trade policies and immigration enforcement, impacting local businesses. Canadian land arrivals dropped 32% in March 2025 compared to the previous year, with summer bookings down over 30%. Businesses like Adrift Restaurant report decreased sales, affecting local suppliers. The downturn is linked to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods and increased border detentions. The U.S. Travel Association warns the decline in international tourism could cost the U.S. economy $21 billion in 2025 if trends continue.
A Town Dependent on Cross-Border Tourism
Located just two hours south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Anacortes has long relied on Canadian tourists to fill its restaurants, shops, and ferry terminals during the warmer months. But this year, the usual influx of visitors is slowing to a trickle.
Kaia Matheny, co-owner of Adrift Restaurant, a nautical-themed farm-to-table eatery in downtown Anacortes, has already seen a 4% drop in monthly sales compared to 2024. “It’s not a huge decrease, but it’s noticeable,” she said. “Tourism won’t be what it is usually. We’ll batten down the hatches and make the best of it.”
Matheny’s restaurant sources most of its ingredients from local farms and fisheries, so the downturn is rippling through the broader community. “It’s a community impact,” she added. “When we cut back on buying, our suppliers feel it too.”
Canadian Travel to the U.S. in Decline
According to data from Tourism Economics, Canadian air arrivals to the U.S. fell 14% in March 2025 compared to the same month in 2024, while land arrivals dropped a staggering 32%. The decline is part of a broader trend: international visits to the U.S. fell 12% year-over-year in March, with similar double-digit declines from Western Europe, Asia, and South America.
The downturn is particularly acute for Canada, historically the largest source of international visitors to the U.S. In 2024, more than 1.7 million Canadians visited Seattle and King County alone, spending an estimated $584 million. But that momentum has reversed sharply in 2025.
Searches for U.S. travel by Canadians dropped 50% in March and April compared to the same period last year, according to Beyond, a global short-term rental data provider. “We saw a nearly immediate drop in Canadian search activity after the tariff news broke back in February,” said Julie Brinkman, CEO of Beyond. “While interest in the U.S. dropped, Mexico saw a 35% increase in searches.”
Trade and Immigration Concerns Fueling the Pullback
The decline in Canadian tourism is being driven by a combination of trade tensions and immigration concerns. President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed multiple rounds of tariffs on Canadian goods, including a 25% levy on automobiles, steel, and aluminum. His repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state have also sparked backlash north of the border.
In a February speech, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged citizens to consider vacationing domestically. “Now is also the time to choose Canada,” he said. “It might mean changing your summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations our great country has to offer.”
Immigration policy has also become a flashpoint. Reports of increased detentions, device searches, and deportations at U.S. borders have created a perception of heightened risk for international travelers. “Whether fair or not, a perception is taking hold that more people are being detained,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “That creates a great deal of fear.”
Local Businesses Brace for a Tough Summer
The impact of the tourism slowdown is already being felt across Anacortes. Small and mid-sized businesses that rely on seasonal visitors are seeing profits erode. Nationally, the share of profitable tourism companies fell to 32% in April 2025, down from 41% in April 2024, according to payroll provider Gusto. Accommodation businesses—such as small hotels, guesthouses, and RV parks—saw profitability drop to 36%, down from 44% a year earlier.
Aaron Terrazas, an economist at Gusto, said the decline is “unusually sharp and unusually sudden, particularly for a time of year when we normally start to see travel pick up.” He noted that the downturn is not being driven by inflation or labor costs, but by a steep drop in customer traffic.
In Anacortes, the ripple effects are tangible. “We’ve had to cut our buying by the same amount our sales have dropped,” said Matheny. “That means less business for our local suppliers—fishermen, farmers, and artisans who depend on the summer season just as much as we do.”
Broader Implications for U.S. Tourism
While Anacortes is a small town, its experience reflects a national trend. The U.S. welcomed 72 million foreign visitors in 2024, still below the 78 million recorded in 2019. Foreign visitors, though fewer in number, are high-value customers. The average overseas tourist spends more than $4,000 per visit, while Canadian and Mexican tourists spend about $1,200—still significantly more than the average American domestic traveler.
The U.S. Travel Association estimates that the ongoing decline in international tourism could cost the U.S. economy $21 billion in 2025 if current trends persist. “Foreign visitations to the U.S. are the largest services export in the country,” said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “And the outlook is quickly souring.”
For towns like Anacortes, which rely heavily on cross-border tourism, the stakes are high. As summer approaches, business owners are hoping for a turnaround—but preparing for a season that may fall far short of expectations.
