Who wants to come to America? More tourists are staying away, spending their money elsewhere in 2025

Between reports of travelers being arrested or hassled at border crossings and boycotts due to President Trump’s divisive rhetoric, it’s no surprise that the number of international visitors to the United States has taken a sharp downturn.

Now new research from Tourism Economics predicts an 8.5% decline in international tourism to the United States this year.  

As a result, the country could see an $8.5 billion downtick in international visitor spending, according to Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company. Meanwhile, the World Travel & Tourism Council has an even bleaker prediction, estimating a loss of $12.5 billion for 2025. 

The former’s predictions are an improvement from a report two months ago, which put the decrease in arrivals at 9.4% and spending down to 5%, compared to 4.7%. However, they’re shocking when you consider that the researchers had initially predicted a 9% increase in international travelers and a 16% boost in their spending for 2025. 

‘Negative sentiment effects’

The largest decline for a single country is predicted to reach 20.2% from Canada—the independent nation that President Trump has posited should go from neighbor to 51st state. Western Europe follows at an expected 5.8% decrease in visitors to the U.S. 

Canada and Europe already have a significant drop in flights booked for May to July, down 33% and 10.4%, respectively.  

“Overall, the strained relationship between the U.S. and its key trading allies and tourism source markets will continue to weigh heavily on travel demand,” stated Aran Ryan, the report’s author and the director of industry studies. “These negative sentiment effects referenced in our prior research, explain our view that Trump administration rhetoric and policies have contributed to a mix of traveler backlash and concerns about traveling to the U.S.”