International visitors stayed away from the United States in 2025. Four million fewer than the year before, causing the total spending to drop by more than $8 billion.
The 5.5% drop in international tourism is the worst single-year decline in two decades, with the only exception being 2020. It was larger than during the global recession of 2008. And the World Cup, which was supposed to save the season, will barely move the needle.
“We used to be a country that others wanted to emulate. That narrative no longer exists,” said Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School.
The long-term harm, she explained, is that the world will not know America. The narrative of the United States is now a country that is, at best, not to be respected, and at worst, a democracy that is floundering.
The Canada Factor
The vast majority of the drop in visitors was due to Canadians not crossing the border. There were drops from Germany, India, France, Chile, Australia, and China. There were increases from Mexico. But the story is Canada.
John Stewart of Golden Lake, Ontario, had been going to the Indy 500 for 35 years. He easily spent $10,000 on annual weeklong trips. Not this year. He reached an “ideological breakpoint.” It wasn’t just tariffs or the 51st state rhetoric. It was the war in Iran that put him over the edge. “It’s really not Canadian versus American, it’s just what’s right and wrong,” he said.
Canadian visits to US metropolitan areas dropped as much as 42%, according to cell phone activity data. The official border crossing numbers show a 25% drop. Either way, the absence is devastating for businesses that rely on Canadian tourism.
The Businesses Left Behind
Joe Koenen runs Seattle Free Walking Tours. He put more money into marketing and online advertising than ever. Bookings are still down from last year.
Adam Duford runs Surf City Tours in Santa Monica, California. He says “Canadian spring break” simply didn’t happen in 2025. In October, he had to let go of all seven of his employees. “It was terrible,” Duford said. “They were so surprised and taken off guard.”
Duford took over the tour company in 2019, thinking sunshine and tourism in Santa Monica were a sure thing. He faced a pandemic shutdown, misinformation about fires, and fears over protests. His 2025 revenue was less than half of what it was in previous years. He is now running one tour bus by himself, still trying to pay off a Covid-era loan.
Walt Disney World felt it too. Domestic theme park attendance dropped 1% compared to the same quarter last year, reflecting, in part, continued softness in international visitation. Domestic hotel occupancy was down from 92% to 89%.
Why It Happened
It is not just perceptions. There are practical barriers. A proposed $250 visa integrity fee. War-induced spikes in jet fuel prices. The defunding of Brand USA, the only American organization that markets US tourism to international audiences. The war in Iran has significantly hampered air travel from India, with restricted airspace in the Middle East.
Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, said proposing extra fees to visit the US and tariff wars are examples of “pennywise and pound-foolish” policies that seem to bring in more money in principle but end up costing the US much more.
Brand USA recently launched a campaign to “build traveler confidence” and clear up misinformation. The damage is already done.
The World Cup Won’t Save It
The World Cup is supposed to bring about 1 million visitors to the US this year. Sacks said FIFA had anticipated 100 Super Bowl’s worth of visitors. It will turn out to be more like 10 Super Bowls. That will not be nearly enough to make up for the 2025 losses.
The National Travel and Tourism Office projects international arrivals to the US won’t exceed pre-pandemic levels until 2029. A full decade later than expected.
The US is at a crossroads, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. There is a significant opportunity to restore international visitor spending, particularly as competition intensifies from countries in Asia. But the question is whether US leaders will seize that opportunity.
Sacks said the US has historically had a trade balance in only one significant area: travel. In 2025, that flipped. Americans now spend more time traveling abroad than foreign visitors spend visiting the US.
To start clawing out of this hole, Sacks said US leaders need to fully fund Brand USA, tone down the rhetoric, particularly against allies, and “get out of our own way.”
The Bottom Line
Four million fewer foreign visitors came to the US in 2025 compared to 2024. Total spending decreased by more than $8 billion. The 5.5% drop is the worst single-year decline in two decades, excluding the 2020 pandemic. The vast majority of the drop was due to Canadians staying home. Businesses from Seattle to Santa Monica to Orlando are bleeding. The World Cup will not save the season. And the US is not projected to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2029.
