Tension between the United States and Canada may be an unexpected plus for Bermuda, according to one Hamilton Princess & Beach Club executive.

Diarmaid O’Sullivan, director of sales and marketing at the Pitts Bay Road hotel, told BBC.com this week that he has seen a bump in Canadians seeking to relocate events from the US this summer.

“This is a mix of leisure travellers, including those planning weddings, and companies relocating business events,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “This represents an approximate 20 per cent increase in forecasted revenue from the Canadian market.”

A Newsweek article last week revealed Canadian flight bookings to the United States have plummeted more than 70 per cent, compared with last year.

The travel website Visa Verge put the blame for the change on American tariffs on Canadian goods, a weak Canadian dollar and shifting consumer values.

The difference is so pronounced that airlines such as Air Canada and WestJet have cancelled US-bound flights, preferring to focus on Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe.

Forbes magazine is predicting that the loss of Canadian tourism will cost the United States $4 billion.

In Bermuda, Canadian honorary consul Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone has been following the situation closely.

“It is quite incredible,” she said. “I am not qualified to comment on the situation, but you only need to look at the news to see what is going on.”

Michael Couts, general manager of Coco Reef Resort in Paget, has seen a slight uptick in bookings from the North American East Coast, generally.

He thought this was more to do with BermudAir’s flight out of Halifax. The local airline started the service to Nova Scotia, Canada last May.

However, Mr Couts was anticipating more of an increase in Canadian business owing to the political situation in the United States, when the summer season begins in a few weeks.

Canada and several European countries have issued travel advisories warning about travel to the United States including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Britain.

However, local travel agents were not seeing the same trend among Bermudians.

Veteran travel consultant Delores Binns, of Trip Travel, in the Washington Mall in Hamilton, saw some Bermudian scepticism about travelling to the United States, but not fear.

She was more concerned about skyrocketing air fares.

“Some of the fares have gone up more than $400,” she said.

Ms Binns said flights to the Caribbean that once cost $750 now cost $1,100.

“It is the airlines manipulating the fares,” she said. “You used to be able to get a through fare from here to Jamaica, but now you have to pay for every point, Bermuda to New York, New York to Miami and then Miami to Jamaica.”

She said flights to England range from $1,100 to $1,300, but taking a bag adds to the price.

The cost of flights to the US is up, but not as much.

“If you book at least three weeks ahead of time, you can get a reasonable fare,” Ms Binns said.

Fare sales are not happening the way they did before Covid-19 began in March 2020, she warned.

Despite the extra expense, many Bermudians are biting the bullet and paying the extra money to fly overseas, the travel agent said.

Despite the rising popularity of online booking sites such as Expedia and Travelocity, Ms Binns said there is still work for travel agents. She specialises in group travel.

“Yes, there is a small fee to use our services,” she said. “But if something goes wrong, see if you can get Mr Travelocity or Mr Expedia on the phone. You can spend hours trying to get in contact with someone at an airline. My clients have my phone number, and if there is a problem, they can call me and I can help them work it out.”