Good morning. From boycotts to fuel shortages, the global tourism landscape has been upended over the past year. We crunched the numbers and mapped out just how much travel has changed, and what Canadians can expect during the summer months ahead (hint: it may be one of the most turbulent travel seasons yet).

More on that below, along with a major blow to Canada’s auto sector, even as electric-vehicle sales rise domestically. But first:

Power plans: Ottawa says it has begun stakeholder consultations on a strategy to double the size of the country’s electricity grid by 2050.

Quantum race: Nord Quantique Inc. is the fourth Canadian-founded quantum computing startup to reach a valuation of more than $1-billion. The Quebec-based developer quietly raised $30-million in March, valuing the company at US$1.4-billion, sources told The Globe.

Drone warfare: Latvia’s government collapsed after an incursion by Ukrainian drones that a NATO think tank director believes likely were being controlled by AI – and may have autonomously chosen their target.

I’m Mariya Postelnyak, The Globe’s consumer affairs reporter.

We’ve been talking about travel a lot this past year. Tensions with the United States, cancelled Cuban getaways and jet fuel surcharges from the war in the Middle East have disrupted Canadians’ usual travel plans.

You may be stumped on where to take a holiday this summer while trying to keep shifting geopolitical and financial concerns straight.

My colleague Jason Kirby and I decided to pick up the pieces of a fractured global tourism economy and map out the bigger picture. Our story outlines the domino effects from geopolitical turmoil across the travel landscape.

We discovered some surprising data. For example, tourists from Mexico are cushioning the blow from Canada’s U.S. travel boycott, gas prices are making it hard to staycation and Las Vegas lost more than 221,000 Canadian flight seats.

Here are some of the highlights from our reporting:

In late April, jet fuel prices around the world were a whopping 105 per cent higher than a year earlier. These spikes, combined with an ever-shrinking pool of global travel destinations not affected by conflict of one sort or another, have sent airfares soaring.

Lisbon and London saw some of the biggest spikes internationally, while at home, Vancouver and even Manitoba saw surges as high as 55 per cent within the past two months.

Las Vegas saw some of the biggest cuts to flight capacity from Canada to the U.S. as patriotic sentiment brought down U.S. travel demand. The city known for Elvis impersonators and hasty marriages saw more than 221,000 seats slashed.

That’s a pretty big deal considering Canadians make up the largest proportion of foreign visitors to Sin City.

The outbreak of the war in Iran sent consumer sentiment tumbling, according to Nanos Research. In fact, about 21 per cent of Canadians have already cancelled or postponed trips as a result of higher travel costs, Bank of Canada data showed.

The drop-off in Canadian visitors to the U.S. has in large part been offset by increases in travellers from other countries. Among the most surprising: Mexico.

Immigration crackdowns targeted at Latinos notwithstanding, the number of residents from the coastal country flocking to the U.S. is seeing a multiyear increase.

But that’s not to say our absence in the U.S. isn’t missed, especially across border states.

Here are just a few ways our southern neighbours have rolled out the charm offensive:

• California offered 25 per cent off hotels and attractions for visitors from the north, even as Canadian trips to the Golden State fell as much as 38 per cent in the months that followed the launch of that campaign in May, 2025.
• Walt Disney World introduced deals targeting Canadian residents with discounts of up to 30 per cent on tickets and hotels.
• Resorts across Arizona launched a “Northern Neighbours Offer” with 30-per-cent discounts on rooms.
• Maine’s efforts have included “Welcome Canadians” signs across the state.

While the U.S. gets entangled in more global conflicts and the pool of travel options shrinks, Canadians may be lured back to the southern border yet. But for now, we’re all in for a bumpy ride.