By Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer
Orja Ivanic looked forward to welcoming his cousin from Sweden to his Denver home in June. Ivanic and four travelers had planned to go on a hike in Colorado and visit Los Angeles and San Francisco.
But then President Donald Trump betted Ukrainian President Voldymee Zelenkiy at a February meeting at the White House. Ivanic’s four relatives quickly canceled their planned trip and decided to take a vacation in Europe instead.
“Trump dealt with a Democratic president during the war.
The US tourism industry had expected 2025 to be another good year for foreign tourists. The number of international visitors to the US jumped in 2024, with forecasts projected to arrive from overseas this year likely to reach pre-Covid levels.
However, three months after the year, international arrivals have plummeted. Citizens from other countries, angry at Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric and wary of reports of tourists arrested at the border, have chosen to travel elsewhere from the United States.
The federal government’s national travel and tourism office released preliminary figures on Tuesday showing that overseas visits to the US fell 11.6% compared to the same month last year. The figures did not include arrivals from Canada, which we plan to report tourism data later this week, or land intersections from Mexico. However, air travel from Mexico fell by 23%.
Tourists will take photos with Donald Trumpstar at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Friday, April 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The street performer dressed like Spider-Man will pass the TCL Chinese Theater on Friday, April 4, 2025 at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
Hot Dog Vendors will receive money from customers at Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Friday, April 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Tourists will walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Friday, April 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Sylvia Camino, who visited from Argentina, will take a photo with Donald Trumpstar on Friday, April 4, 2025 at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Tourists board a two-storey bus along the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles on Friday, April 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The street performer dressed in line with Spider-Man walks the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, April 4, 2025, past Donald Trumpstar and Trump merchandise in Los Angeles.
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Tourists will take photos with Donald Trumpstar at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Friday, April 4, 2025 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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From January to March, 7.1 million visitors entered the United States from overseas. This is 3.3% less than the first three months of 2024.
Travel forecaster Tourism Economics recently predicted that the US expects international arrivals to nearly 9% this year in December, and last week revised its annual outlook to forecast a 9.4% decline.
Tourism economics expects some of the sharpest declines to come from Canada. In Canada, we hope Trump’s repeated proposal that the country should become the 51st state and tariffs from close trading partners will anger residents. Canada was the largest visitor to the United States in 2024, with over 20.2 million people, according to US government data.
Travel booking site Flight Centre Travel Group Canada said leisure bookings to US destinations fell 40% in March compared to the same month a year ago. Air Canada has reduced its schedule of spring flights to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona due to lack of demand.
Last month, the National Travel and Tourism Office made Rasier forecasts for international travel to the US based on its 2024 travel patterns. The office said it expects arrivals to rise 6.5% this year, up 77.1 million, up 2026, exceeding 2019 levels.
However, Tourism Economics said the impact of the less-favorable US views from overseas could be so severe that international visits until 2029 are not above pre-pandemic levels.
“All survey data shows a significant combination of cancellations and a significant reduction in travel intentions,” said Adam Sachs, president of tourism economics.
Ian Urquhart, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, was scheduled to go to Las Vegas for five days in June. He cancelled a trip to protest Trump’s “incredibly light-hearted tone” to Canada, despite what meant losing a $500 deposit on the holiday package.
His eldest daughter likewise nixed a planned May trip to Sedona, Arizona, but his brother-in-law decided not to go on his usual weekly golf trip to Scottsdale, Arizona.
“None of us jumped at joy when we made those decisions, but it seemed to be one of the few ways to show how we felt about bullying directed towards Canada by the president,” Urquhart said.
For Pepaque Bass and her husband, who live in Madrid, Trump’s election in November was a turning point. The couple had planned to ski in Colorado for a month during the winter break. They went to Japan instead.
“Trump’s victory was particularly shocking to us, especially us,” Quebus said. “For now, we’ve lost our desire to come back. We don’t know what will happen in the future, but for now we’re still in shock and this doesn’t seem to be resolved.”
International arrivals from China fell almost 1%, according to government data released on Tuesday. Leisure trips by Chinese citizens to places like Disneyland, Hawaii and New York have declined dramatically, and it is likely that they will not be picked up again until Trump resigns from his position, said Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO of China’s Outbound Tourism Institute. He blows it off into “Trump’s poor performance.”
That slump has economic consequences. Tourism Economics expects spending by international visitors to fall by $9 billion this year.
Marco Jahn is president and CEO of New World Travel, a California company that works with overseas tour operators on holiday packages and activity plans. For example, you will place a hotel and a car rental for families who want to take a driving tour of US National Parks.
Jahn said bookings have fallen by 20% to 50% over the last 8-10 weeks, depending on the source market. He says it is particularly declining from Scandinavia. There, Trump repeatedly poses threats and is hostile to his citizens, NATO Ally Denmark’s autonomous territory.
“The United States is not recognized as a welcoming destination,” Yahn said.
Beyond, a revenue management platform for vacation rental owners, said searches for Canadian short-term rentals have plummeted 44% since February 1st. Florida, Texas and New York were one of the most intense markets.
California-based tour operator American Ring Travel offers US carbon neutral bus tours that often attract eco-friendly travelers from Europe, said Richard Groes, the company’s contract director. However, reservations from Germany have flattened in January after Elon Musk threw his support behind far-right parties in the country’s federal election, Groes said.
There are other issues that affect foreign visits. The US has been the country’s top destination for Japanese tourists for years, but data compiled by JTB Tourism Research & Consulting shows that South Korea was top of the US in January.
The weaker yen, not Trump, is likely the biggest factor in suppressing the US’s appeal, says Mitamura, a spokesman for Tokyo-based travel agency Veltra Corp., who has chosen destinations with less currency effects, such as South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia.
Tokyo resident Haruka Atmiya visits Los Angeles at least once a year. Last year, she brought in her young children for the first time and did a lot of research to find affordable places to stay. Due to exchange rates, some hotels have doubled or tripled the prices they paid in the past.
Atmiya, who attended a university in Vermont, doesn’t understand why Americans chose Trump, but she has always loved the diversity and freedom of the United States, which she said she would not stop visiting unless she felt physically dangerous.
“If America changes to make it clear, that’s true, and I’ll probably continue to visit,” she said. “What will happen to America after Trump intrigued me?”
Tokyo AP writer Yuri Kageyama and Madrid’s Teresa Medrano contributed.
Original issue: April 8, 2025, 12:37pm EDT
