Travel as Diplomacy: PEI Advisor Shares His Perspective at Brand USA Travel Week Canada

As U.S. tourism representatives reconnect with the Canadian travel trade, a PEI advisor says travel can help preserve relationships during politically difficult times.

The inaugural Brand USA Travel Week Canada is bringing American destinations, attractions and tourism suppliers together with Canadian travel professionals in Toronto and Montreal this week, with a message that goes beyond selling vacations.

At a time when Canada–U.S. relations have become increasingly complicated, organizers say the four-day event is intended to strengthen relationships and remind Canadians that they remain valued visitors.

“The event is an opportunity to reconnect with the Canadian travel industry and show solidarity and friendship to our northern neighbors,” Brand USA said in a statement. “We want to demonstrate that we value their business and we welcome their clients.”

For Brett Tabor, a travel advisor with Revolution Travel Group in Prince Edward Island, the importance of maintaining connections across borders is something he has experienced firsthand.

Attending a travel advisor and trade media day during Brand USA Travel Week Canada, Tabor reflected on an uncomfortable chapter in his home province’s recent history.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prince Edward Island imposed strict border restrictions that prevented many Americans who owned summer properties on the island from visiting.

When restrictions were eventually eased, allowing American property owners to return, Tabor recalls a troubling reaction from some residents.

“Immediately, people, they saw an American licence plate, and they were smashing their windows, scratching their paint jobs, leaving nasty messages on their windshields,” he said.

“It was really ugly, really fast.”

For Tabor, the experience demonstrated how quickly attitudes toward visitors from another country can deteriorate, even in communities that pride themselves on being welcoming.

He sees parallels with the current climate surrounding travel between Canada and the United States.

“I think how quickly it can devolve into hate,” he said.

Rather than withdrawing from promoting U.S. travel, Tabor believes advisors have an opportunity to help maintain relationships between people on both sides of the border.

“Whether my clients want to go or not, whether they’re asking to, I have never wavered in the idea that just like sports, science and education, travel is a form of soft diplomacy.”

That philosophy helps explain why he accepted an invitation to attend the inaugural Brand USA event.

Tabor said he intends to highlight the participating American tourism suppliers through his social media channels, finding something worthwhile to share about each destination or attraction.

But he acknowledges that promoting U.S. travel can carry a risk of criticism in the current environment.

“There is this fear that there’ll be some sort of backlash, that someone will unfriend me for it or leave some nasty remark,” he said.

Ultimately, he says that concern will not change his approach. “The further I go into what I know my core values are, I don’t care.”

Also attending the event was Gregory Marshall, a board member of Discover America Canada, which describes itself as Canada’s leading organization dedicated to promoting travel and tourism to the United States from Canada.

Marshall, who lives in Rochester, New York, says he is the organization’s only U.S.-based board member. He said his volunteer involvement reflects both a desire to strengthen the organization and an opportunity to continue learning about the travel industry.

“I volunteer to do this just because it’s right,” Marshall said, adding that he also sees the role as a learning opportunity, even at this stage of a long career.

His involvement reflects the ongoing work of tourism organizations seeking to maintain relationships between Canadian travel sellers and American destinations.

Brand USA Travel Week Canada is designed as a business-to-business networking event connecting U.S. destinations and attractions with Canadian travel buyers, tour operators and media.

Its Toronto and Montreal programming provides American suppliers with opportunities to reinforce longstanding trade relationships and introduce Canadian sellers to travel experiences across the United States.

For advisors, the event also presents an opportunity to hear directly from destinations about their commitment to the Canadian market.

While individual Canadians will make their own decisions about whether to visit the United States, Tabor believes travel professionals can continue building connections and encouraging understanding between neighbours.

For him, keeping those doors open is part of what travel is all about.