Is Moose Jaw the next vacation hot spot? How Canadian tourism might benefit from Canada-U.S. rift

Keith Fowke of Winnipeg often takes his family south of the border for a holiday. But with ongoing tariff unpredictability and annexation threats coming from U.S. President Donald Trump, Fowke says he won't step foot in the country this year.

Instead, he's planning a family road trip, possibly to the Royal Tyrrell Museum — a.k.a. the Dinosaur Museum — in Drumheller, Alta.

"You know, going on the No. 1 highway, that's a very Canadian thing to do. And, you know, there's some smaller communities around Drumheller, so we can plan things out a little bit," Fowke told CBC Radio's Cost of Living.

"We're going to spend our dollars in Canada where, you know, people might be having economic hard times and we want to put our dollars where it can help Canadians."

Fowke isn't the only one. The last few months have shown a drastic drop in Canadian travel across the border, whether for business or pleasure. And many in the domestic tourism industry — including in Fowke's hometown — say some of the less obvious locations, including small towns, could benefit the most. 

"I believe in both Canada and the U.S., when they're thinking of travelling to Canadian cities, they quite often think of MTV: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver," said Tyler Walsh, director of marketing for Winnipeg's economic development including tourism. 

"And it's cities like Winnipeg that I think have to work a little bit harder, and maybe be a little more creative, to really make an impact."

Christine Chettiar runs a bed and breakfast in Bathurst, N.B., that can accommodate about 30 people at a time. She says she's currently fully booked for the summer, which doesn't usually happen until the end of August. 

Canadians "are afraid to go to the U.S.," she said bluntly. "I have some clients that ... say, 'Well, you know, we're not going to travel to the U.S.,' because ... they hear on the news they might lock you up." 

Reports of checkpoints being set up along the U.S.-Canada border, and one Canadian's tale of being detained for 11 days by U.S. immigration, have further fuelled travel fears.

Chettiar herself shelved what would have been a regular trip to see friends in Miami. The Trump factor, she says, is affecting where people on both sides of the border are planning to stay. 

"I think he's a lunatic," she said. "U.S. people are very, very nice people and we have good friends there. We have family there, and so they are coming to visit us instead."

Wayne Smith, a professor of tourism at Toronto Metropolitan University, says people are taking the change in cross-border relations to search for something a little more off the beaten track this summer.

"You can go to Toronto anytime, you can go to Vancouver anytime, but you're not always going to go to, you know, Wawa [in northern Ontario]. And [those that do are] getting an experience that's very different," he said.