The United States is one of the first three most visited countries in the world. Large drawing cards – cities like San Francisco, New York and Chicago and national parks such as Yosemite – have attracted international tourists for decades. This combined with its role of global commercial power meant that it had 66.5 million visitors in 2023 – and the figure of 2024 should be even higher.
But many things have changed in recent months, and figures for 2025 may not be so strong. Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024 as President of the United States and substantial changes in diplomacy and foreign relations, alongside internal cultural changes, are beginning to change global attitudes to the United States-attitudes that seem to affect the desire of tourists to visit the United States.
In a recent report by the Tourism Economics Research Company, incoming trips to the United States should now decrease by 5.5% this year, instead of growing almost 9% as expected before. Another climbing of pricing and commercial wars could lead to an additional reduction in international tourism, which could reach an annual reduction of an annual US dollars (13.8 billion) of tourist expenses in 2025.
There are already evidence of travel cancellations. Since Trump announced 25% of prices on many Canadian products, the number of Canadians crossing the border to certain passages dropped to 45%, some days, compared to last year. Canada is the largest source of international tourists in the United States. Air Canada announced that it reduced flights to certain American holiday destinations, including Las Vegas, from March, while reduced demand.
According to a March survey of the Canadian market researcher LEGER, 36% of Canadians who had planned trips to the United States had already canceled them. According to data from the OAG aviation analysis company, Canada’s road passenger reservations to the United States are down more than 70% compared to the same period last year. This occurs after the US Travel Association warned that even a 10% reduction in Canada incoming trips could lead to a loss of expenditure of US dollars (1.6 billion pounds sterling), which put 140,000 hotel jobs in danger.
An unwilling environment?
Some potential visitors have cited an unwilling political climate in the context of a concern concerning the visit of the United States – including angry rhetoric, migrants and the LGBTQ +community. The report on the tourism economy has also cited “the polarization of Trump administration policies and rhetoric” as a factor in travel cancellations.
There are other factors that can influence travelers, for example, Western Europe, which represented 37% of trips abroad to the United States last year. These include American prices pushing the prices at home and the perceived alignment of the American administration with Russia in the war in Ukraine.
Yougov’s research in March has revealed that the attitudes of Western Europe towards the United States have become more negative since Trump’s re-election last November. More than half of people in Great Britain (53%), Germany (56%), Sweden (63%) and Denmark (74%) now have an unfavorable opinion on the United States. In five of the seven countries interviewed, the figures for the American favor have been at the lowest since the start of the survey in November 2016.
Border problems
Some high -level cases on the American border could also push tourists. In March, a British woman was handcuffed and owned for more than ten days by applying American customs after a visa problem. The same month, a Canadian tourist was detained after trying to renew his visa on the American-Mexican border. During the 12 -day detention, she was owned in overcrowded prison cells and even put chains.
Mexico is the second largest travel market first in the United States. Tourism economy suggests that the problems concerning the new rules of the application of borders will arouse concerns with potential Mexican tourists. During Trump’s first term, Mexican visits to the United States fell 3%. In February of this year, Mexico plane trips had already dropped 6% compared to 2024.
Many countries, including Canada, have updated their travel advice in the United States. For example, on March 15, the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office updated its advice in the United States, warning visitors that “you might be likely to stop or detention if you break the rules”. The previous version of advice, from February, had no mention of arrest or detention. Germany has made similar updates to its travel opinion, after several Germans were recently held for weeks by US borders.
Several European countries, including France, Germany, Denmark and Norway, have also issued travel warnings specific to transgender and non -binary citizens, because the American authorities demand that tourists declare their biological sex at birth on visa requests. This occurs while the United States has ceased to deliver passports with a marker X – commonly used by those who identify themselves as non -binary – for its own citizens.
Alternative destinations
While thousands of travelers cancel their trips to the United States, other destinations see a peak of interest. Bermuda hotels have reported an increase in requests for information, while Canadians relocate leisure activities and travel far from the United States, some predicting a 20% increase in Canadian visits.
Europe has also reported an increase in reservations from Canada, rental properties that know a 32% jump in summer reserves compared to last year, according to some reports.
There are already increasing concerns that the restrictions on the visa and the entry will disturb fans and athletes to take advantage of the Male FIFA 2026 World Cup, held on sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Visitors to certain countries, such as Brazil, Turkey and Colombia, could wait up to 700 days to get visas. The International Olympic Committee has also shown concerns about the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, although US officials insisted that “America will be open”.
With assembly visa delays, the application of stricter borders and increasing concerns concerning human rights and anti-minority rhetoric, the United States risks losing its appeal as a vacation destination. The long -term impact on its tourism industry can be difficult to reverse.