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Divisive language and policies from President Trump are helping push business travellers north of the border, the head of Marriott International Inc. said on Wednesday.

Large groups of travellers, particularly for conferences, are changing reservations to friendlier cities such as Toronto over U.S. options “with the view that bringing in an international group would be more hassle-free in Canada and maybe a little bit riskier in the U.S.,” Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said in an interview in Toronto.

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Revpar growth, a measure of financial performance based on revenue per available room, will be in the “mid- to high single digits” in Canada this year, compared with 1 to 2 per cent in the U.S., Sorenson said. Revpar growth alone doesn’t indicate whether travellers are changing their destination.

“You’re going to have people coming in from everywhere, and they’re going to be looking at ‘Can we get our people in? Are they going to want to go to that place?'” Sorenson said, sipping a cappuccino in a meeting room of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. “At the moment there’s a perception around the world that the U.S. is a little less welcoming than it was in the past.”