Ryan Estrada and Kim Hyun Sook recently made the difficult decision to cancel their monthslong visit to the United States this summer. They had spent years planning this trip, sacrificing others for this major one – Kim even denied renewing her job contract for it.
Cartoon artist Estrada and his wife Kim, a Korean graphic novel author, have been living in her home country for the past several years. This trip was their opportunity to visit Estrada’s family and also meet with libraries across the country to talk about the books that they collaborate on. Kim was planning to be in the United States on a tourist visa for the permitted three months while Estrada, an American-born citizen, was going to arrive earlier and leave later.
They were all set for their trip when they heard the news about graphic artist Rebecca Burke being detained and banned from the United States. The British national, who was using homestays for her accommodations, was attempting to travel from Seattle to Vancouver during a backpacking sojourn throughout North America.
“She’s a friend of friends, and it just kind of scared me,” Estrada said. “And everything after that, it seemed like every day there were two or three new stories that touched on exactly what we were afraid of.” By that, he means the high-profile detainments and deportations of several green card holders, the enhanced scrutiny at U.S. borders, and the overall agenda of increased national security by the Trump administration. Even some U.S. citizens are hesitant to travel outside the country’s borders.
Knowing they were bringing art supplies with them, plus the fact that Kim’s books – one being a fictional illustrated account about living under a South Korean military regime in the 1980s – are banned in four states, the couple felt going on the trip was just too risky.
“There’s a lot of family things I’d want to do that we’re not able to, but I have the choice of either putting my wife in danger or abandoning her for half a year,” Estrada said. “I was shocked by how many people understood. I thought people, even older relatives, would just be like, oh, you’re overreacting. But my mom was like, ‘yeah, don’t come. It’s too dangerous.’ “
Amid recent travel advisories warning those coming to the United States plus strengthened immigration enforcement, many international travelers are starting to turn away from the U.S. as a destination. Between January and March, foreign arrivals dropped by around 4.4% from those first three months last year, according to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office. In a March year-over-year comparison, that reduction doubles to almost 10%.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – consistently ranked the busiest airport in the world and a hub for international connections – 189,973 non-U.S. passengers passed through its terminals between March 1 and April 7, according to data by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That’s an almost 5% decrease from the same time last year.
Some fear for their safety over what could happen when trying to enter the nation’s borders. Others are angered at recent policies, like the trade wars, and rhetoric, refusing to spend their dollars in the U.S. A decline in overseas visitors could have significant long-term consequences for the economy, with travel and tourism one of the country’s leading industries, contributing 2.5% to the gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
“It’s shaking everything up,” said Hicham Jaddoud, professor of tourism at the University of Southern California Bovard College. “We have seen also how these tourists that used to come to the U.S. decide to change their direction are looking at different destinations … That’s gonna impact that return rate or the acquisition cost of consumers coming back to the U.S. There are a lot of concerns, obviously, and they’re all backed by data and numbers.”
Earlier this year, the National Trade and Tourism Office predicted a positive forecast for 2025’s international visitor numbers. Over the past several years, travel to the United States has been steadily increasing, with last year seeing 72.4 million international arrivals, up from 66.3 million in 2023.
However, the U.S. tourism industry is already starting to see a flurry of cancellations across the board, from business to leisure and family travel. “That cancellation impacts, obviously, hotel reservations, restaurants, every element that deals with tourism,” said Jaddoud. In 2024, spending by international visitors generated $2.9 trillion in economic output. It supported 15 million jobs, from the more obvious hotel workers to indirect services like taxi drivers, according to the U.S. Travel Association. Canadian travelers alone spent $20.5 billion, and just a 10% reduction could mean a loss of $2.1 billion.
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged his citizens to “choose Canada” for their travels rather than going to the United States – and they are.
Not only are airline bookings from Canada to the United States plummeting – down more than 70% each month through the end of September – but carriers are cutting flights by 3.5% between the two countries. “This sharp drop suggests that travelers are holding off on making reservations, likely due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the broader trade dispute,” the firm said in a statement, as previously reported by USA TODAY.
Based just outside of Toronto, Jodi Gibson and his family were frequent travelers to the United States, often going to Cleveland with his season tickets for the Browns football team and hitting East Coast cities like New York for Broadway shows. He and his extended family just canceled their upcoming Orlando, Florida, trip to visit Disney theme parks over the unstable political climate. Trump’s recent remarks that Canada should become the 51st state was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I canceled my season tickets this year. I just thought you know for the next four years, my money can be better spent somewhere where they don’t have a leader trying to annex my country,” Gibson said. Instead, the family plans to travel domestically in Canada and explore Ireland and Scotland.
Jaddoud warns that a loss of travelers won’t just be for the short-term, but that impact could last for years. “A shift toward alternative destinations, that was something that really kept me up at night as a result of all of these factors,” he said. “We have seen a noticeable shift among international travelers to go toward other destinations. As I mentioned, like Canada, for instance, has become increasingly attractive for Europeans.”
If travelers have a good experience elsewhere, they may not choose to return to the United States. even if the political landscape changes.
Although saddened by the loss of his trip and the uncertain future of his home country, Estrada feels confident in his decision to avoid taking his wife to the United States, even though he doesn’t know when they can ever make that visit. “They’ve made it clear that any reason is good enough,” he said. “So, if you’re hearing a story about someone this is happening to, and in your mind you’re like, there must’ve been a reason. Look at what some of the reasons have been in the past and realize that could be you.”
