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STORY: The region called the Thousand Islands straddles the U.S.-Canada border where the St. Lawrence River runs between the two countries.It draws sight-seers from both sides, who ride riverboats between the picturesque and castle-like island mansions.But U.S. President Donald Trump's sharp trade measures and hostile words toward Canada are starting to sour Canadian tourists on American destinations.FRAM: "What we've noticed is a lot of our potential visitors, particularly on the Canadian side, they're quite angry. They're quite hurt by what they see as policy and rhetoric that is attacking."Corey Fram is the director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, and says the change in tone is taking a toll."And from what I'm hearing, and I've talked to travel professionals from the Canadian side, from the Atlantic to the Pacific this week, what they're hearing from their audiences, whether those are readers or whether those are bus tour passengers, is that some of their folks are telling them they're going to vote with their dollars, and they're not going to come visit the United States."Canada and the U.S. have long shared the world's longest peaceful border between any two countries. The two flags could fly side-by-side. But now, Fram says he has had to adjust his marketing."So what we have done is kind of pivoted to New York landmarks being shown to New York audiences, Canadian landmarks being shown to Canadian target audiences."Some Canadians say they've canceled planned trips to the U.S., preferring other destinations instead.OUKIL: "I was planning a trip to LA to see a friend. However, we decided to go to Mexico instead."Zina Oukil, from Calgary, spoke to Reuters from Cancun, Mexico.She flew south with her husband after canceling a road trip to Los Angeles."The constant jokes about annexing Canada, Canada being the 51st state, and that coming from the mouth of very high-level political leaders, just put a very sour taste in my mouth."Travelers seem to be responding with their wallets.Flight data tracking firm Forward Keys reported new bookings to the United States from Canada have declined about 20% since February 1 compared with the year-ago period.FREITAG: "In hotels, in states that are closest to the border, we've seen a decline in room demand basically since the inauguration."Jan Freitag is with the data analytics firm CoStar, and says Saturday night hotel bookings in border towns such as Niagara Falls and Bellingham, Washington have dropped.United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said on Tuesday the company has adjusted its capacity due to a drop in incoming traffic from Canada.FRAM: "We have not seen a significant drop in business yet, only because it's hard to quantify."Fram told Reuters his tourist season doesn't begin in earnest until the spring.FRAM: "But with our core season really picking up on Victoria Day weekend in May, that's when we might start to actually see cancelations."
