The Digester

A string of border incidents, travel restrictions and hostile rhetoric has chilled demand from Europe and Canada, forcing hotels and tour operators to cut prices while forecasters predict a sharp fall in international visitor spending for 2025.

High-profile detentions, stricter checks and arbitrary border procedures have increased the sense among many travelers that they are not welcome in the United States.
Tourism authorities now expect a 10 percent drop in international arrivals for 2025, reversing earlier predictions of a 9 percent increase.
Oxford Economics finds the U.S. is the only one of 184 economies forecast to see a decline in visitor spending this year.
Platform and airline data show weaker demand, with Expedia reporting international bookings to the U.S. down 7 percent and Canadian bookings down about 33 percent.
Local businesses report steep losses, including a 25 percent fall in some Florida bookings, a one third revenue drop for an Alaska tour operator and Hawaii B&B bookings at half their usual May and June levels.
Analysts warn of a broader economic hit, with WTTC projecting about $12 billion less in visitor spending and banks estimating tourism could shave roughly 0.3 percentage points off U.S. GDP, while rivals such as Brazil are seeing inbound gains.

Trump-era policies and border practices dent international tourism to the U.S.

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