I am eager to offer apologies this year and already issued dozens while exploring Mexico’s Quintana Roo, reconnecting with Canadian colleagues in Charleston, and attending international travel industry events in Chicago.
I’m sorry for our government’s attitude toward yours.
I’m sorry for the stress you may feel when traveling here.
I’m sorry if you haven’t felt welcome — so many of us are glad you chose to visit. We aren’t all like “that” (and I’ve not needed to drop a name).
Replies? A mix of chuckles, thanks, reassurance, suspicious looks, and confidential tales about life’s new complications.
The world of travel has been muddled this summer. So many are not quite sure where to go or what to expect. That includes frequent flyers who appreciate cultural differences and know how the amplified antics of politicians diminish the quiet goodwill of average people worldwide.
We travel writers debate whether to delete our social media content before approaching U.S. Customs. Or whether it’s best to write about countries other than the U.S. this year.
Canadian writers who use Facebook to praise, say, Germany’s charms, might ignore highlights of a U.S. trip. That’s one way to avoid the online wrath of peers, and Canadian media outlets reportedly are boycotting U.S. destination coverage anyway.
Two-country tension places Chez Chesak, president of the Society of American Travel Writers, on a tightrope: the group has U.S. and Canadian members. He issued a statement that acknowledges “the U.S. has an administration in the Executive Branch who doesn’t respect Canadian sovereignty. Their comments and ‘jokes’ about making our closest ally the ‘51st State,’ are crude, insulting…and undermine many decades of positive, supportive relations between our two countries.”
I flew to Charleston in May because not enough Canadians signed up for the society’s annual chapter meeting. Only seven of roughly two dozen attendees were Canadian.
Maureen Littlejohn of Toronto was a brave exception. “Thinking about travel to the U.S. has been fraught,” she shared. “We hear stories of phones and laptops being checked for incendiary threads, and of people being detained at the land borders. It’s scary. Many Canadians I know have decided to travel elsewhere this year. On the other hand, I did make a recent trip to Chicago and did not encounter one problem.”
Can’t say I blame Canadians for ghosting us, and they’re certainly not the only ones.
I took the lead in organizing a spring conference for Midwestern travel writers; we converged at a resort near Playa del Carmen. It’s customary to meet with a destination’s tourism office, to discuss an area’s newest and most significant offerings — but those plans collapsed shortly before our arrival.
Divergent feedback was consistent: It’s nothing personal and nothing political. But I remain unconvinced. What I know is that we writers left uninformed about Tren Maya, a new, multibillion-dollar and still-mysterious train project to connect Cancun, Chichén Itzá and 30 other stops in one loop. Such a missed opportunity.
A month later, three dozen travel writers in Mexico flew to Chicago for the annual IPW (it’s no longer referred to as the International Pow Wow), a longstanding showcase for U.S. destinations. Around 5,000 people from 64 countries attended: vendors, buyers, travel communicators (5,700 attended in 2024).
More Australian journalists (29) attended than Canadian (26). “America continues to welcome travelers” was the closest most speakers got to acknowledging the challenge of bringing international visitors here.
The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts the U.S. economy will lose $12.5 billion in spending from international visitors this year. No other economy, of 184 analyzed, is expected to experience a decline.
IPW emphasizes positive trends and what’s new/major in travel. Madison’s Public Market made the cut of what to watch for in 2026, although the year’s biggest hits will be World Cup soccer, the USA’s 250th birthday, and centennial celebrations for the 2,448-mile Route 66 and Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
Call me old school, but I am conditioned to presume that a press conference will include Q&A time. That didn’t happen much this year at IPW, so we chatted among ourselves. When I expressed frustration with the lack of remarks about political tension or divisiveness, a Brazil journalist simply shrugged. “It’s important for them to stay neutral,” she observed, as IPW destinations are a mix of the deeply red and blue.
Then came speaker Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, who wants travelers to know “there’s more to DC than the federal government” and that the 535 politicians elected to Congress “are not who we represent.”
He noted the District of Columbia has 180 embassies and, at 14%, the highest percentage of LGBTQ+ residents in the nation. “As a destination, we’re challenged with negative headlines,” Ferguson admitted. “That’s not a political statement. It is our reality.”
Little did he know how challenges would deepen before summer’s end. Consider this recent Washington Post headline —“D.C. tourism was already struggling. Then the National Guard arrived.”
The candid talk at IPW earned Ferguson applause, and Q&A thanks from a United Kingdom writer, “for addressing the elephant in the room.” Another from the U.K. shared that although travel to the U.S. has decreased, “we find on the ground that we are welcome.”
Ferguson acknowledged travelers’ concerns and challenges, but for those who don’t feel welcome? “You have to follow your own conscience,” he replied. “If you choose not to come, we understand.”
In the interim, real and perceived issues remain. A Brit, who told me that he’s visited the U.S. five times so far this year, figures he’ll eventually be detained.
A Mexican woman, who witnessed a Chicago “No Kings” protest, confided that she found it frightening (despite only one arrest). She tried to stay out of view of iPhone and other cameras because “you don’t know who is taking those photos and why.” She is protective of her travel visa, “so I will behave.”
And during a bus ride, my seatmate from Germany — a buyer for group travel — predicted no major bookings “until things settle down. Every week it’s something new” and politically outrageous.
Then, a matter-of-fact observation about Trump’s actions: “He’s doing what he promised” to those who voted for him.
Mary Bergin (@maryinmadison) is a longtime travel writer.
