Charyl Reardon hoped this would be the year.

Tourism from Canada to New Hampshire never quite recovered to 2019 levels after the pandemic, and Reardon, president of the White Mountains Attractions Association, thought 2025 could meet that threshold.

“We were kind of hoping this would be the year that we would start to see that rebound,” Reardon said, “but certainly just the political dynamics and whatnot has, I think, stalled that a bit.”

The number of Canadians visiting the U.S. declined in recent months as the Trump administration placed tariffs on Canadian goods and has floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state, stirring anti-American sentiments north of the border.

The impacts appear to be spreading to the Granite State. Reardon said she’s heard from a few local businesses, including a few campgrounds, that said some visitors are canceling their reservations.

Butch Ladd, executive director at the North Country Chamber of Commerce, also kept an eye out for Canadian license plates around Victoria Day on May 19, when many people take the first long weekend of the summer to venture down to the U.S. They typically pass through his region, which includes towns like Colebrook and Pittsburg.

From his own observations, he doesn’t think there was as much traffic as he’s used to.

“I do know some people up there are very nervous about coming down here because they don’t know what to expect,” Ladd said, “and they’re very leery of us going up there, just because they don’t know what to expect as well.”

Exact numbers are difficult to pinpoint.

As of April, monthly lawful travelers from Canada to northern New England were down by more than 100,000, according to data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. No numbers were available for New Hampshire’s only point of entry in Pittsburg.

Entries to Vermont and Maine, which many New Hampshire tourists travel through, grew steadily over the past several years, slowly rebounding from the COVID decline. Then, something switched in February.

Usually, the number of visitors begins to increase in the spring, leading up to the summer peak. The opposite has happened in 2025 so far, with just 274,000 arrivals this April compared to 404,000 last April.

Tracking which visitors are Canadian is difficult – neither the state’s Department of Business and Economic Affairs nor the White Mountains Association have a way to quantify it – though Reardon estimates they account for about 7-8% of the region’s tourists. The association’s website traffic – which doesn’t necessarily translate into a visit but can be indicative of interest – is down about 60-70% in the Canadian market, she said.

“That’s probably a good indication that travel across the border will probably be not as strong as it typically is,” Reardon said.

New Hampshire isn’t ready to give up on recruiting Canadian tourists yet, though. Pamela Schmuhl, the BEA’s director of public affairs, said in an emailed statement that the agency “recognizes the importance of Canadian tourism.” The state continues to boost marketing campaigns in Ontario and Quebec, work with regional chambers of commerce and participate in the New Hampshire-Canadian Trade Council. It also provides resources and data for businesses that rely on tourism.

Reardon, too, said she still hopes to appeal to potential Canadian tourists.

“We’re still spending some marketing dollars there and kind of a message that says, ‘We’re here, we’re ready to welcome you,’” Reardon said. “‘We’re ready to continue to be the hospitable destination that we are, when you’re ready.’”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.