Once in a while, you might hear someone refer to the states located in the middle of America as “flyover states,” a derogatory nickname coined because these of their reputation as destinations not favoured by travellers.

But if the United States isn’t careful, the nation itself risks becoming one giant flyover state. Take for example Mexican travellers, who according to a report by Forward Keys, are increasingly skipping U.S. travel in favour of a Canadian vacation.

The data company, which extrapolates real-time flight and booking information to predict future trends, says that since the U.S. presidential election on November 8, 2016, travel to the United States from Mexico is down by 9 per cent. Mexican travel to Canada, on the other hand, has increased by a whopping 82 per cent.

But, says Forward Keys, a data company which extrapolates real-time bookings and flight data to predict future trends, the bump probably has less to do with American politics and is more about other factors, including the low value of the Canadian dollar as well as Canada’s lifting of visa requirements for Mexican travellers last December.

It's worth noting that the increased interest in Canada by Mexican travellers has been trending for at least a year. For the period between March 1, 2016, and the U.S. election, travel from Mexico increased by 16 per cent, while travel to the United States maintained its nine per cent decline.

Forward Keys is not the only organization to predict a decline of Mexican travellers to the United States. According to an article in USA Today, Tourism Economics of Wayne, Pennsylvania has predicted the United States will lose 1.9 million Mexican travellers this year and 2.6 million next year, figures which could cost the American tourism industry nearly $3 billion in revenue.

Helping fuel the growth of Mexican travellers into Canada, Aeromexico announced it would boost Mexico City service to three Canadian markets.

And while the decreased interest in the United States by Mexican travellers might not be entirely about politics, there’s no doubt that politics are hurting the nation’s tourism brand. A recent study by Brand USA, the official tourism marketing arm for the U.S., has found that visitors from 11 of America’s top inbound destinations say they are now less likely to travel to America.

Even before the election, Air Canada was eyeing a greater global presence in Canada, and the airline continues to bulks up its domestic, cross-border and international services, in part to lure passengers into skipping the more crowded American airports by making their international connections at one of Canada’s top three airports.

Canada’s top airports, all of which have seen tremendous growth over the past several years, are eager for the business. Toronto Pearson, already the second-busiest airport in North America in terms of international connections, and the first airport in Canada to serve 40 million passengers in a year, has announced that it is making a stab at “Mega Hub” status.

Whether or not the airline’s strategy of pulling passengers away from the United States will be a success remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: “Making America great again,” stand the potential to have pretty good benefits for Canada as well.

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