“We’ve seen more redirects than cancellations”: TRAVELSAVERS unpacks trade war trends, strategies

Between Trump’s tariffs on Canada, the weak dollar, and lingering economic uncertainty, there’s a lot of “noise” in the market right now, says Jane Clementino, senior vice-president and general manager at TRAVELSAVERS Canada. 

But Canadian travel advisors have an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons.  

That was one of many themes discussed Thursday night (March 27) at Hazelton Manor in Vaughan, ON, where about 120 travel advisors and 25 suppliers gathered for TRAVELSAVERS Canada’s “Dine and Discover” event, a trade show and dinner, held every spring and fall, in the Greater Toronto Area.

The lively meet-up functions as a training event for TRAVELSAVERS’ members, but also as an opportunity to secure valuable face time with top sellers and key suppliers.

Dine and Discover, which started three years ago, also gives advisors the sense of belonging to a real community.  

“It's important for a community to surround you – especially when there are things happening in the world that make travel a little more difficult at times,” said Clementino, speaking to PAX last night. “People need each other. They need to know they're in a professional field where they can rely on a community to help them if they have questions, concerns, or just need a group hug.”

The travel industry could certainly use a group hug as it navigates the complexities of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which have rattled consumer confidence as more Canadians, in a patriotic move, rethink their U.S. travel plans.

Canadian airlines are tweaking their U.S. flight schedules, redirecting service elsewhere, and some advisors say clients are cancelling trips, entirely, amid the uncertainty.

But how bad is out there, really? PAX met with Clementino to discuss the latest booking trends, the impact tariffs are having on travel, and what travel advisors can do to make the most of the situation.  

PAX: Where is your head at these days? Is the year playing out as you expected?

Jane Clementino (JC): I think you have to look at the year in two halves. This first quarter is up, but a lot of those bookings were made in 2024. People haven't cancelled those bookings and we're still seeing pretty good demand.

Overall, we're ahead of Q1 2024 and Q1 2025. As for Q2, and the latter part of the year, I don't know how it will play out. I don't know what the noise will be, both with the economy and the political situations that are unraveling on a daily basis.

Having said that, our future looks strong because people are booking in advance. We're seeing a seven to 12 month-advance purchase. Which we see a lot at TRAVELSAVERS, but it remains consistent and it has grown a little bit more.

PAX: What specific booking trends are you seeing?

JC: It’s interesting. Cruise is still up against last year, but again, a lot of those bookings were made in advance. But we’re seeing people redirect cruise to more European, Asian and South American destinations – especially where the dollar goes further.

ITC is also up, and I think it’s two-fold: people have made a point to have a trip every year, and they've justified that trip, regardless of what's going on. They’re still travelling to sun destinations. We know a lot of capacity is going to be shifted from the United States in the second quarter into more sun destinations. It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out because when you look at sun destinations, they're actually more expensive this year than they were last year.

Moving forward into May and June, you’re going to have people getting better value, going to sun destinations, and there's going to be more lift because planes are being redirected from the U.S. I believe Canadians are still going to book ITC and packages because they can justify it.

PAX: What’s the latest on Trump’s tariffs? Is the impact on travel coming into clearer focus now?

JC: Yes. It’s a daily event. Canadians are talking about it, but they've started to move through it. So instead of it being a showstopper, where your day is starting and ending with that, they're looking at opportunities to say, ‘Okay, it's going to remain for a while. It's not the flavour of the day or month. It's going to be with us probably for a number of months, maybe even years.’ So, they're saying, ‘How do we manage around this?’ Consumers are becoming more educated on destination options and the currency exchange.

I've encouraged a lot of our advisors to start looking at their database, and segment it, so that when suppliers come out with new promotions (like Oceania’s Canadian at par promo) they can target their audience.

It is important advisors encourage consumers to book while the fire is hot now that suppliers are offering more promotions and amenities. Anything to get us travelling, and keep us travelling. That’s happening more and more because suppliers realize that [the tariffs] are not short term. It's going to be mid to long-term, and it’s going to continue.

PAX: What is the impact of Trump’s tariff threats, exactly, as it stands now? Are you seeing a dramatic drop in bookings?

JC: What we’ve seen, so far, is a spike in insurance. Which is great. In February, insurance was down because people weren't travelling. But in March, insurance went up, because people are saying: ‘I'm going to go anyways – somewhere – and I'm going to safeguard myself by buying insurance.’ That's an interesting swing in one-month period.

We're also seeing people look for that ultimate destination. But again, they’re making different decisions based on how the economic situation will play out.

PAX: What’s the ratio of U.S. bookings that have been cancelled versus bookings that have been redirected elsewhere?

JC: I would say we've probably seen about a 10 to 15 per cent redirect. And we haven't seen that many cancellations because people have put their final deposits in and they're not willing to walk away from the money. They're just going to redirect the next time they book. We’ve seen more redirects than cancellations. People are starting to think about fall and winter. They're booking in advance and making a safe decision.

PAX: You’ve said consumer confidence isn’t where it needs to be. Can you elaborate on this?

JC: I think there's a few things at play. Ontario just went through an election. People don't know where they sit with job security. And the dollar is weak. We also just had the interest rate drop, which gives people a sense that inflation won’t be as high. Canada’s new Prime Minister [Mark Carney] has also put out safeguards around making sure the auto industry is safeguarded, which creates more consumer confidence.

I think our low was in February, when we didn't know, and there was a lot of unrest, both in Ontario and Canada overall. Obviously, we have an upcoming election, and that's going to play out as well, but everybody's looking at having more money in their pocket. That's one of the platforms for either party. They're looking at putting more money in everybody's pocket, which allows people to feel more comfortable.

PAX: In today’s economic and political climate, should the travel industry be worried?

JC: No, I don't think they should be worried. I think they should be on top of their game. That's how I'd look at it. This is the time to engage their database and acquire new consumers.

We're doing a lot of work right now with tools and digital lead campaigns that has led us to acquire new consumers. We’ve launched a new website that allows consumers to find an expert in the area of travel they want to book. These are new investments we're looking at so [advisors] can get more consumers into their funnel.

[Advisors] are going to need a broader net and bring in more consumers. Because bookings are going to be one-trip a year – not two. They might be shorter and less extravagant. [Advisors] will need more [clients] to replicate what they had in 2024. It's going to depend on how the advisor markets themselves in terms of what they offer around safety, security, and knowledge.

PAX: What is TRAVELSAVERS’ strategy for maximizing sales, moving forward?

JC: From a sales perspective, we are focused on the members we have today. We’re working on engaging with members to make sure they know where the tools, offers and promotions are. We're not as much in market trying to acquire new business. We've slowed that down a bit. We're double downing on our membership to make sure we're supporting them.

From an overall sales perspective, last year grew just shy of $100 million in total, both through acquisitions, new acquisitions, and the addition of ICs into our network. We will grow less than that this year, from what we predict, just because once you have this much noise in market, a lot of agencies don't want to change. They're looking at what they have in front of them, the consortium they're with, and thinking, ‘I need to focus on my business. I don't need to have any other distractions.’

Until the noise settles, we're going to focus on the members we have. It's about the health of our organization today, as it is, rather than running around trying to find new acquisitions. People are really focused on the short term, rather than the long term.

With files from Nancy Benetton-Sampath. This interview was edited for length and clarity. 

To see more pictures from TRAVELSAVERS' “Dine and Discover” event, visit and "like" PAX's Facebook here.

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