‘Trump Slump’: Fewer foreigners visiting US

Tourists walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. —AP/JAE C. HONG

Olja Ivanic looked forward to welcoming some cousins from Sweden to her Denver home in June. Ivanic and the four travelers were planning to go hiking in Colorado and then visit Los Angeles and San Francisco.

But then US President Donald Trump berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a February meeting at the White House. Ivanic’s four relatives immediately canceled their scheduled trip and decided to vacation in Europe instead.

“The way (Trump) treated a democratic president that’s in a war was beyond comprehensible to them,” said Ivanic, who is the US CEO of Austria-based health startup Longevity Labs.

The US tourism industry expected 2025 to be another good year in terms of foreign travelers. The number of international visitors to the United States jumped in 2024, and some forecasts predicted arrivals from abroad this year would reach pre-COVID levels.

But three months into the year, international arrivals are plummeting. Angered by Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric, and alarmed by reports of tourists being arrested at the border, some citizens of other countries are staying away from the United States and choosing to travel elsewhere.

11.6 percent drop

The federal government’s National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures on Tuesday showing visits to the United States from overseas fell 11.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year. The figures did not include arrivals from Canada, which is scheduled to report tourism data later this week, or land crossings from Mexico. But air travel from Mexico dropped 23 percent.

For the January-March period, 7.1 million visitors entered the United States from overseas, 3.3 percent fewer than during the first three months of 2024.

Travel forecasting company Tourism Economics expects some of the steepest declines will be from Canada, where Trump’s repeated suggestion that the country should become the 51st state and tariffs on close trading partners have angered residents. Canada was the largest source of visitors to the United States in 2024, with more than 20.2 million, according to US government data.

The National Travel and Tourism Office gave a rosier forecast last month for international travel to the United States. Based on 2024 travel patterns, the office said it expected arrivals to increase 6.5 percent to 77.1 million this year and surpass 2019 levels in 2026.

Less favorable view

But Tourism Economics said the impact of the less favorable view of the United States from abroad could be severe enough that international visits won’t surpass prepandemic levels until 2029.

“The survey data is all indicating a significant mix of cancellations and a massive drop in intent to travel,” Tourism Economics president Adam Sacks said.