The number of foreign visitors to the United States continues to drop, reflecting a trend attributed to various policies introduced by President Donald Trump.
According to preliminary government data, foreign visits to the US decreased by 3 percent year-over-year in July.
This decline is part of an ongoing trend that has persisted since Trump took office in late January.
For five out of the last six months, there has been a consistent downturn in the number of foreign tourists.
Luise Francine, a Brazilian tourist in Washington, DC, expressed concern, stating, “Everyone is afraid, scared – there’s too much politics about immigration.”
Experts and local officials suggest that Trump’s tariffs, immigration policies, and controversial remarks about acquiring territories such as Canada and Greenland have contributed to this alienation of potential travelers.
Ryan Bourne, an economist at the Cato Institute, noted that these declines can be closely linked to the rhetoric and actions of the president, highlighting that fears surrounding trade wars and immigration enforcement have left a negative impression on foreign tourists.
Tourism Economics, a travel research firm, recently forecasted that international arrivals to the US could drop by 8.2 percent in 2025.
While this marks an improvement from an earlier prediction of a 9.4 percent decline, it still indicates a substantial decrease compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.
The firm pointed out that negative sentiment around the US has been severe, as evident from airline bookings reflecting a slowdown in inbound travel through recent months.
Notably, the figures for July 2025 don’t include Canadian and Mexican visitors, who have historically contributed significantly to US tourism.
However, Canadian visitation has plummeted by one-quarter compared to the same time in 2024.
As a striking development, more US citizens traveled into Canada during June and July than Canadians traveled to the US.
This marks a significant change, as reported by Canada’s national statistical agency, being the first time this has occurred in nearly two decades—aside from two months during the pandemic.
In contrast, tourism from Mexico has shown some growth, with US government figures indicating a 3 percent increase in travel from Central America and a 0.7 percent increase from South America, though there was a 2.3 percent decrease from Western Europe.
The most substantial drops in visitor numbers have come from countries that traditionally send sizeable numbers of tourists to the US.
Data reveals that only Japan and Italy experienced an increase in visitors in July among the top ten overseas tourist-generating countries.
Conversely, visitors from India, which ranks second in terms of volume, witnessed a decrease of 5.5 percent, while those from China plummeted nearly 14 percent.
Deteriorating relations between India and the US, marked by rising tariffs and geopolitical tensions, have influenced Indian tourist numbers.
Similarly, broader concerns related to trade and Trump’s prior comments regarding Chinese students have made the US a less appealing destination for potential travelers from China.
Deborah Friedland, managing director at the Eisner Advisory Group, remarked that multiple headwinds, including rising travel costs, political uncertainty, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, are adversely impacting the US travel industry.
Since assuming office for a second term in January, Trump has reinforced hard-line policies from his previous term.
These include resuming a travel ban targeting predominantly African and Middle Eastern countries, tightening visa approval processes, and intensifying immigration raids.
Moreover, his push for tariffs on foreign goods has fostered a perception among international audiences that they are not welcome in the US.
Compounding these issues is the introduction of a new $250 “visa integrity fee,” which will take effect on October 1.
This additional charge raises the total visa cost to $442, making it one of the highest visitor fees globally, particularly affecting travelers from non-visa waiver countries like Mexico, Argentina, India, Brazil, and China.
Gabe Rizzi, president of Altour, a global travel management company, stated, “Any friction we add to the traveller experience is going to cut travel volumes by some amount.”
As the summer season comes to an end, he predicts that the impact of the new fee will become a more pressing issue for travel budgets and logistics.
International visitor spending in the US is expected to fall below $169 billion this year, a decline from $181 billion in 2024, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
In a concerning finding released in May, the council projected that the US would be the only country among 184 studied where foreign visitor spending would decrease in 2025, indicating a clear decline in the global appeal of the US.
image source from：aljazeera
