Two U.S. Congresswomen have each introduced proposed legislation that would mandate the creation of a multinational tourism working group aimed at strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Rep. Dina Titus are the respective authors of the USMCA Travel and Tourism Resiliency Act in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The bills were filed this month.
The effort to strengthen tourism and travel between the U.S., Canada and Mexico comes amid a significant and sustained drop in Canadian tourism to Las Vegas.
‘President Trump has alienated Canada’
Cortez Masto and Titus’ legislation would direct the U.S. Trade Representative to convene a working group to develop new travel and tourism strategies under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that was signed during Trump’s first administration.
The working group would be co-chaired by representatives of the Canadian, U.S. and Mexican governments and comprised of officials responsible for issues related to travel and tourism. American members would include personnel from the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Interior, State and Homeland Security. The group would also take input from trade and tourism companies.
“President Trump has alienated Canada and Mexico through his words and policies,” Titus wrote in a press release. “We need to rebuild our relationships with two of our largest tourism partners to restore travel to Las Vegas and other destinations. Our tourism economy declined in 2025, costing us jobs and revenue. Half of our international visitors come from Canada and Mexico. We need to win them back.”
“As we’ve seen over the past year, tariffs, trade, and international cooperation play a large role in either promoting or deterring international travel,” added Cortez Masto in her own press release. “As partners in this historic trade agreement, it’s critical that we do what we can to invite Canada and Mexico to support the American travel industry.”
Canadians go missing from Vegas
While the legislation focuses on forging stronger tourism and travel bonds in general between the three North American countries, Cortez Masto and Titus are both Nevada Democrats and Titus is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Gaming Caucus. The context of Las Vegas rings loudly in their effort.
Canadians are historically the gaming and entertainment hub’s largest international market, and their absences have been felt.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) estimated that while the total number of visitors to Vegas between January and November 2025 dropped 7.4% year over year, visitors from Canada fell by around 24%. Canadian airlines Air Canada and WestJet reported drops of more than 20% in Canadian-originated passengers arriving at Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, and casino operators on the strip cited missing Canadian guests as a big factor in lower hotel occupancy and casino traffic.
LVCVA CEO Steve Hill and other tourism leaders visited Canada last year to discuss ways to rectify relationships and entice Canadian tourists back to the resort city.
Meanwhile, Circa Casino and Resort owner Derek Stevens recently came up with his own novel way of trying to attract Canadians back: Offering a dollar-for-dollar “At Par” promotion wherein the three Vegas casinos owned by Stevens are treating Canadian loonies as if they were U.S. bucks across select gaming, hotel and beverage offerings until Aug. 31, 2026.
