International travel still a cloudy spot in Orlando’s sunny tourism forecast
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
International travel still a cloudy spot in Orlando’s sunny tourism forecast
International travel to the U.S. is down about nine percent, Visit Orlando says. Canada accounts for a significant portion of that figure, a Visit Orlando official says. A travel agent based out of Toronto says she has seen a decline in travel from Canada. Visit Orlando projects international travel to rebound in 2026, an official says, but it’s too early to say for sure.”If you look at my forecast today, it’s mostly sunny with part clouds,” a tourism official says of the forecast for Friday.
“If you look at my forecast today, it’s mostly sunny with part clouds,” said Maria Henson, the senior director of market research for Visit Orlando.
Henson and her colleagues spoke before the Tourist Development Council in Orange County, providing a snapshot of the industry now and telegraphing where it might be heading.
International travel to the United States is down about nine percent, Henson said, pointing out that it’s an eight percent decline in Orlando.
She said Canada accounts for a significant portion of that figure.
“And this is definitely not an ‘If,’” Henson said of the drop-off in tourism from Canada. “It’s more of a ‘How much?’”
In a statement to News 6 Friday evening, Visit Orlando wrote that it has seen a “softening in travel demand from Canada, which is expected to continue through the remainder of the year.”
“While it’s too early to accurately quantify Canadian visitation declines for Q2 and Q3, it’s worth noting that nearly half of all Canadian travel to Orlando typically occurs between January and April. With that seasonal trend in mind, we are hopeful that a substantial portion of annual Canadian travel has already occurred, even as we anticipate a softer second half of the year.”
[READ Visit Orlando’s presentation to the Orange County Tourist Development Council]
The statement also said Visit Orlando remains committed to international marketing, including in Canada.
“I would say travel is probably down about 30%,” said Deborah Goldberg, a travel agent based out of Toronto.
Goldberg works for ClickTheMouse Travel, focusing exclusively on booking Disney and Universal packages for her clients.
“It’s not COVID times for sure,” Goldberg said. “But we’ve seen a decline.”
Goldberg attributed the decrease in travel from Canada to simmering geopolitical tensions, pointing to the tit-for-tat on tariffs between Canada and the United States.
She did, however, express optimism for the future.
“A lot of people are looking at 2026 as opposed to 2025,” Goldberg said.
Visit Orlando also projects international travel to rebound in 2026.