Cooler heads advised as tariff turmoil heats up

Cooler heads by Canadians will need to prevail when American visitors come to Vancouver, as the cross-border tariff conflict between Canada and the U.S. continues to stir strong emotions for some.

Less anger against American visitors will be necessary to preserve the high value of the Vancouver tourism brand during these difficult times and over the long term, said the president and CEO of Destination Vancouver in a presentation earlier this week. American tourists make up the majority of visitors to the city, and their numbers can’t be replaced from other sources, said Royce Chwin.

Travellers from the U.S. accounted for 23% of visitors to Metro Vancouver in 2024, and 28% of total visitor spending. “The U.S. is our biggest client here in Vancouver,” said Chwin. 

Given the current disputes, American visitors may face a negative reception if and when they come to Vancouver. Chwin said this would be a mistake, as even one bad encounter will have an exponential impact, given that it will be relayed to friends, relations and other online contacts. This will degrade the Vancouver tourism brand over the long term, he said.

The Vancouver visitor economy was valued at $9 billion in 2024, and that remains on track to achieve a goal of $11 billion in value by 2030, said Chwin, who took the stage at a lunch by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade at the Vancouver Convention Centre. “We benchmark ourselves against other cities in North America, and Vancouver is in the top third of those rankings.” 

But competition is incredibly fierce, said Chwin, and “our closest ally no longer seems like that, with tariffs and 51^st state rhetoric, the list goes on and on.”

He referred to the current state of cross-border turmoil with the acronym VUCA – that is, volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. “The rhetoric that is coming across the border is affecting travel on both sides.”

He pointed to the example of five business conferences by American companies that have all recently cancelled their Vancouver reservations, because they are worried about the backlash they might face for bringing their business to Canada.

“What you are starting to see is the slow weaponization of travel,” said the CEO.

Chwin also took the opportunity to update the assembled BoT members on the state of hotel accommodations in the city. The number of rooms in Vancouver has lagged behind demand, but there is now a push by hoteliers to open more properties in the city.

“The room count now is the same as it was in 2002, at about 13,000 rooms,” said Chwin. (Some hotels have closed, such as the Four Seasons.) He said that Vancouver needs about 10,000 more rooms, and that otherwise it is at risk of losing its ability to compete with other cities for big corporate events. “We’re about a decade and a half behind where we should be now,” he said, in reference to the hotel room shortage.

Chwin said there must be some urgency applied to this growth curve. There are now 20 hotel projects in the pipeline for Vancouver, he said. The Vancouver Sun reports that about 1,500 rooms are in the plans for Vancouver over the next two years, with a few hotels in the final planning stages and set to break ground in the next 12 months.