by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:05 AM ET, Tue May 13, 2025
New data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) suggests
the United
States could lose as much as $12.5 billion in international travel spending
this year.
According to the New
York Times, the WTTC’s Economic Impact Research released Tuesday indicates international
travel spending could dip to less than $169 billion in 2025, a massive drop
from the $181 billion earned in 2024.
The forecasted total for this year would represent a 22.5
percent decline from the peak of U.S. international spending in 2019, when the
nation earned $217.4 billion.
WTTC President Julia Simpson blamed “tourist detentions and
steep tariffs” established by U.S. President
Donald Trump and his administration.
“The near neighbors, Canada and Mexico, are not traveling,” Simpson
told the New York Times. “There are also concerns over visas — whether they’ve
got the right visa or might accidentally get arrested, which has made people
quite fearful.”
The WTTC data also suggests the U.S. will be the only nation
of the 184 analyzed for the study forecast to see an international visitor
decline in 2025. In response, other countries are relaxing visa requirements to
capture the lost international tourism.
“While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the
U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign,” Simpson continued. “I’m quite
sure President Trump, with his background in hospitality, understands that
holiday makers just want to come and enjoy the beautiful country and the people
and the history and then go home again.”
“They don’t want to live there,” Simpson concluded.
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