LAS VEGAS — American cities continue to see a broad downturn in international tourism that travel analysts warn could persist well into the future. From northern border towns to major hot spots like Las Vegas and Los Angeles, popular travel destinations reported hosting fewer foreign visitors this summer.
Experts and some local officials attribute the trend that first emerged in February to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. They say his tariffs, immigration crackdown and repeated jabs about the U.S. acquiring Canada and Greenland alienated travelers from other parts of the world.
The World Travel & Tourism Council projected ahead of Memorial Day that the U.S. would be the only country among the 184 it studied where foreign visitor spending would fall in 2025. The finding was “a clear indicator that the global appeal of the U.S. is slipping,” the global industry association said.
“The world’s biggest travel and tourism economy is heading in the wrong direction,” said Julia Simpson, the council’s president and CEO. “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.”
Travel research firm Tourism Economics, meanwhile, predicted this month that the U.S. would see 8.2% fewer international arrivals in 2025, an improvement from its earlier forecast of a 9.4% decline but well below the numbers of foreign visitors to the country before the covid-19 pandemic.
“The sentiment drag has proven to be severe,” the firm said, noting that airline bookings indicate “the sharp inbound travel slowdown” of May, June and July would likely persist in the months ahead.
Deborah Friedland, managing director at the financial services firm Eisner Advisory Group, said the U.S. travel industry faced multiple headwinds — rising travel costs, political uncertainty and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Since returning to office, Trump has doubled down on some of the hard-line policies that defined his first term, reviving a travel ban targeting mainly African and Middle Eastern countries, tightening rules around visa approvals and ramping up mass immigration raids. At the same time, the push for tariffs on foreign goods that quickly became a defining feature of his second term gave some citizens elsewhere a sense they were unwanted.
Organizers of an international swing dancing event said an impression of America’s hostility to foreigners led them to postpone the gathering, which had been scheduled to take place this month in the Harlem area of New York City.
About three months into Trump’s second term, international competitors began pulling out of the world finals of the International Lindy Hop Championships, saying they felt unwelcome, said Tena Morales, the event’s co-producer. About half of attendees each year come from outside the U.S., primarily from Canada and France, she added.
Contest organizers are considering whether to host the annual competition in another country until Trump’s presidency ends, Morales said.
“The climate is still the same and what we’re hearing is still the same, that (dancers) don’t want to come here,” she said.
The nation’s capital, where the Trump administration in recent weeks deployed National Guard members and took over management of Union Station, has also noticed an impact.
Local tourism officials have projected a 5.1% dip in international visitors for the year. Marketing organization Destination DC said last week it planned to “counter negative rhetoric” about the city with a campaign that would feature residents and highlight the “more personal side” of Washington.
U.S. government data confirms an overall drop-off in international arrivals during the first seven months of the year. The number of overseas visitors, a category that doesn’t include travelers from Mexico or Canada, declined by more than 3 million, or 1.6%, compared to the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary figures from the National Travel and Tourism Office.
As a tourist generator, Western Europe was down 2.3%, with visitors from Denmark dropping by 19%, from Germany by 10% and from France by 6.6%. A similar pattern surfaced in Asia, where the U.S. data showed double-digit decreases in arrivals from Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines. Fewer residents of countries throughout Africa also had traveled to the U.S. as of July.
However, visitors from some countries — among them Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Japan — have arrived in greater numbers.
Copyright © 2025, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. (NWA Media)
All rights reserved.
This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC
Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.
