Travel plans in Saskatchewan might be facing some turbulence as jet setters take a stand about supporting the United States. With political strife between Canada and the US because of tariff threats and remarks about Canada being the 51st state, some local travellers are taking a stand. You don’t have to go too far to find someone with an opinion on travelling to the U.S. “I’m not putting any money into the states right now,” Barry Kotania told CTV News. Kotania heads south to Montana every summer for a motorcycle trip, but not this year. “We’ll see how things go. Keep money in Canada right now,” he said. Instead, he’s looking at heading west to British Columbia this year for the annual trek. “My wife and I have gone to the states quite a bit over the years, but not now and I don’t know when people are going to go back,” Jeremy Morgan said. At the Regina airport, they’re still busy, but the CEO at YQR admits airline partners have told him, U.S. flights are down which is concerning he says. The Saskatoon airport is seeing a similar trend. They’re trying to navigate these historic times. “The recent escalation in trade tensions between Canada and the United States is expected to influence travel patterns between both countries,” said Saskatoon airport CEO Stephen Maybury. “We anticipate a rise in domestic travel among Canadians, while increased interest from American visitors to Canada may also emerge in the coming months.” While travelers do have a lot of questions about the current political situation and the effect on travel, there is still a need in our province to get away, according to the manager at CAA Travel. “We’re still busy. People are still wanting to travel in Saskatchewan, especially when it snows. They just want to go. So, Mexico, Dominican, they’re all happily traveling,” Caryl Allen, CAA travel manager, told CTV News. Allen has been in the travel business for almost 40 years and says she’s never seen travellers take a stand in this way before, they’re rethinking American travel. “There are some changing their destinations. So they will pick Europe or they will pick, Canada, especially coach tours. There’s a lot to see in Canada,” Allen said. For those who have to do business with American companies — their take is a bit different. ”Yeah, I do travel quite a bit to the U.S. because I work for a company that is based out of the U.S. I probably wouldn’t travel there on vacation now. I try to support local,” Tabetha Stirrett said. There’s also the issue of getting through customs with talk of stricter boarder controls, which is what Jimmy Oneschuk worries about. “I post about Trump all the time online. So I mean, they look at my social media, they’d probably turn me away and I just don’t need to take that chance,” Oneschuk said. He says he’ll do whatever business he can virtually without travelling south and doesn’t have any personal travel plans to the U.S. for at least four years when the administration changes.
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