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Summer travel may see fewer international travelers landing in Southern California

May 3, 2026

International travelers — particularly from Canada — are not coming in droves this year to Southern California’s tourism hotspots.

In fact, new data released by Statistics Canada found that Canadians are largely continuing to avoid travel to the U.S. amid rising tensions with President Donald Trump.

Travelers have cited Trump’s lofty tariffs aimed at Canada and his suggestions that the country become the 51st U.S. state, prompting many Canadians to boycott excursions south of the border.

In February 2026, Canadian residents returned from 2 million trips to the U.S., representing a 12.5% decline from the same month a year ago and marking the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decline, according to Statistics Canada.

More broadly, total international visits to the U.S. last year dropped by 5.5% compared with 2024, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest economic impact research.

Local airports also are seeing the trickle down effects of fewer international travelers — with the exception being Ontario International Airport, which has seen a surge in visitors from Mexico and Asia. The airport boosted service to Mexico and added new flights by Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines. In 2025, the airport saw 567,000 international passengers, a 29.2% increase over 2024’s 438,900 passengers.

Meanwhile, the count of international travelers continued to plummet at noise and flight-restricted John Wayne Airport.

In 2025, JWA reported 297,300 international passengers, down 16.5% from 356,100 travelers in and out of the Santa Ana airport from the previous year. For the first three months of 2026, international passenger traffic fell 23% to 57,476 travelers, compared with 74,907 in the same year-earlier period.

“Fluctuations in international passenger volumes at John Wayne Airport and across the aviation industry reflect broader airline network decisions and market dynamics rather than any single factor,” said airport spokeswoman AnnaSophia Servin. “Changes in airline schedules, aircraft availability, and evolving travel demand contributed to the year-over-year decrease. We have not seen data indicating that sentiment alone is driving these changes.”

Los Angeles International Airport counted 23.6 million international passengers in 2025, down 1.62% from 2024’s 23.9 million. Traffic has continued to fall from overseas in the first three months for LAX, off half a percent to 5.4 million passengers versus the 5.37 million a year ago.

In 2025, Canadian travelers headed to LAX fell 17.2% — and in the first five months of this year the airport is expected to be down another 9%, according to a statement provided to the Southern California News Group by LAX officials.

More recently, due to the Iran War, “subsequent uncertainty” has resulted in a decline in international travel, with the airport currently down over 300,000 seats internationally this spring.

“Some international service adjustments—such as those announced by Norse Atlantic Airways — are reflective of airline-specific business models, particularly for ultra-low-cost carriers where higher fuel costs are more difficult to absorb,” LAX said in its statement. These changes represent a very small share of LAX’s overall international departures, the LAX officials said.

In April, Norse cancelled all summer 2026 flights between LAX and Europe, citing unsustainable fuel costs driven by the Middle East conflict.

Looking ahead, international trends vary by region, according to LAX. European traffic this summer remains softer, while Asia is showing a stronger outlook with roughly 2% growth.

Orange County Register

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Summer travel may see fewer international travelers landing in Southern California

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