ACTA’s Wendy Paradis clarifies pandemic-tariff remarks amid backlash

Wendy Paradis, president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA), is clarifying comments she made last week regarding the U.S. tariff situation while participating in a panel discussion.

On June 5, while speaking on an “Advocacy and Impact” panel at the American Marketing Group’s Travel Market conference at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida, Paradis said that if current U.S. tariffs continue, the impact could be worse than the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conversation, watched by more than 1,000 travel professionals and covered by several trade publications (including PAX), focused on the travel industry and the challenges it is currently facing.

In her remarks, Paradis said “the largest issue” for Canadian travel agencies and advisors is the potential impact of tariffs and trade wars, and that should tariffs stay in place, the impact will be pronounced in Ontario and Quebec – the provinces with the largest travel industries.

After suggesting that the impact could be worse than the pandemic, Paradis elaborated, citing job losses as a primary concern. “For people to travel, they need to have jobs and they need to have disposable income,” she said.

Paradis’ comments, after reported by PAX and other trade news outlets, were met with mostly negative responses from the travel industry.

A thread of comments left on PAX’s Facebook page, responding to our story, accuse Paradis of spreading doom and gloom at a time when travel, generally speaking, is thriving.

Several readers – both travel advisors and suppliers – have disagreed with Paradis comparing U.S. tariffs to the worst time in history for Canada's travel industry. 

READ MORE: Advisors weigh in on comparison between tariffs & pandemic

The feedback continued to flow at Travel Leaders Network’s Edge conference this week in Las Vegas, where at least three executives, in conversations with PAX, expressed their disapproval of Paradis’ remarks. 

Furthermore, in Québec, an open letter written by Philippe Blain, vice president, travel – CAA-Québec, was published today (June 13) in which Blain openly disagrees with Paradis’ suggestion that U.S. tariffs could impact travel to the same extent as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Travellers are still on the move, planes are still flying, and agencies are still planning trips,” Blain writes.

He adds that the industry is “far better equipped to weather economic fluctuations today than we were in 2020.”

“That is the message I would have liked to hear from ACTA.”

What she really meant

But the president of ACTA is now saying that her words were misunderstood.

In an emailed statement to PAX Friday morning, Paradis said the media reports that followed her presentation at Travel Market “gave the impression that I believe the consequences of tariffs could be as difficult as the COVID pandemic.”

“What I was actually trying to convey was that the tariffs in place as of June 4, 2025 – should they stay in place – are forecasted to have a long-term effect on the Canadian economy, not specifically the travel industry,” Paradis wrote. “The pandemic was over in about two years, whereas this economic downturn could last much longer and go much deeper.”

This wasn’t clear at the time given that the discussion at Travel Market was framed within the context of the Canadian travel industry. 

Paradis' comments in Orlando also stated that not all Canadians will be affected the same way.

As PAX also reported, she noted the resilience of baby boomers, “the largest traveller group in Canada right now,” and how many in this group have their mortgages paid off and are empty nesters.

“Some travel advisors will have clients who are severely affected and unable to travel and others will have clients who are not as impacted,” Paradis wrote in her follow-up statement.

She wants to set the record straight. 

“I certainly did not mean to convey that the tariff impact will be worse for the travel industry than the COVID pandemic. COVID shut down our industry for about two years and it is unlikely that anything could come close to that," Paradis wrote. 

She said analysts have predicted that, depending on week-to-week U.S. policy shifts, the tariff dispute could inflict a lasting loss on Canada’s GDP – unlike the relatively swift national rebound seen after the COVID pandemic.

“My main point is that all Canadians, not only travel professionals, will benefit by paying attention and preparing for a variety of tariff impact scenarios,” Paradis said.

“On the bright side, many ACTA Members have advised us over the past several weeks that there is a strong desire for travel from their clients, and although there is some caution, bookings remain strong."

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