More details are emerging about an ongoing slump in foreign tourism to the United States after the International Trade Administration (ITA) released data showing non-citizen arrivals were down year-on-year by 10% in March 2025, and 3.3% down for the first quarter.
The ITA figures come as a disappointment after a record $254 billion spend by international visitors to the US in 2024 and initial forecasts for arrivals to reach 77 million this year, almost returning to 2019’s pre-pandemic levels. Now instead, Bloomberg is predicting a drop in international retail spending of almost $20 billion.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show that the number of encounters in February 2025 dropped to the lowest level in roughly 25 years:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 3, 2025
February 2022: 166,010
February 2023: 156,630
February 2024: 189,913
February 2025: 8,326 pic.twitter.com/oTHrXG9I98
Canadian flight reservations down 70% to September 2025
Canadians furious at President Trump’s tariffs and talk of a “51st state” have been pursuing a months-long boycott of US goods and services. It has seen road and air travel across Canada’s southern border plummet with airlines and tour operators hastily adapting their schedules to cater for the change in demand. Canadian searches for short-term US rentals fell by 44% in February, according to Beyond, a rental management platform.
There is no let-up in Canada’s resolve, it seems. Travel bookers, Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, a travel booking site, said leisure bookings to U.S. destinations were down 40% in March, while flight reservations through to September 2025 are now down 70% year-on-year, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide.
European bookings down too
Europeans too have been turning away from destination USA following the Trump-driven tariff wars, anger at the administration’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and numerous governmental travel advisories about strict US immigration policies that have resulted in tourist detentions at the border.
One solution to ease would-be visitor jitters might be to offer them one of the US’s new Gold Card Visas, offering a streamlined route to permanent residency and eventual citizenship. The problem? It costs $5 million – not a sum the average tourist is able or willing to splash out for what Marc Rubio has called the “privilege” of entering the States.
While financial uncertainty and consumer confidence are playing a part, the overall effect of what Tourism Economics calls “negative sentiment” has resulted in March’s European arrivals to the US falling 17% year-on-year. Looking ahead, the prospects for the rest of the year look glum as well, with European summer bookings for the US down 25% at Accor SA hotels.
Trumpland tourism. pic.twitter.com/i2mvkSsQ2V
— Sérgio Utsch (@utsch) April 13, 2025
Still, a sector estimated by the U.S. Travel Association to be worth $1.3 trillion in 2024 and accounting for 15 million American jobs is not about to roll over and die easily. Despite Tourism Economics’ view that Trump’s shadow over the industry could reach as far as 2029, destinations such as Oregon are fighting back. The state’s travel commission, Travel Oregon, is reported by Bloomberg to be “continuing efforts to attract foreign visitors,” in the words of CEO Todd Davidson, whose team is pitching in nearby Vancouver, as well as further afield in Brazil, India, and the UK. “We will be here when our international visitors feel that they are ready to return,” he promises.
