In mid-2025, San Diego finds itself joining a growing list of major US cities grappling with significant shifts in tourism dynamics.
This group includes notable cities like New York City, Boston, Miami, Houston, and Las Vegas, each facing their unique battles with changing visitor flows and economic pressures.
Understanding how these cities manage tourist inflows in the coming months will be key to maintaining their economic strength within the tourism industry.
In particular, San Diego is contending with high hotel rates and taxes, which have contributed to a decline in room occupancy in an increasingly competitive market.
While New York City continues to attract millions, the city is struggling with exorbitant daily hotel rates that could hinder tourism growth.
Meanwhile, Miami’s markets have remained stable, Houston is under pressure, and Las Vegas is fighting to retain its customer base amidst various economic challenges.
As global events such as the FIFA World Cup and the impending 2028 Los Angeles Olympics loom on the horizon, cities including San Diego are trying to leverage these opportunities to pull in more international visitors.
Yet, they are not without their challenges.
The National Picture of Tourism in 2025 paints a mixed bag of results across the USA.
Recent hotel performance data indicates a slowdown, particularly in bookings compared to previous years.
For Q2 2025, although Average Daily Rates (ADRs) surged, overall occupancy rates dipped, leading to diminished revenue per available room (RevPAR).
Industry analysts, including those from CoStar and STR, have revised their forecasts downwards, predicting occupancy rates of just 62.5% for the year and stagnation in RevPAR growth.
The post-pandemic recovery phase appears inconsistent, with visitors becoming increasingly selective about their travel plans.
This has led to shorter stays, skipped destinations, and a re-optimization of travel routes, echoing market dynamics typical of peak tourist seasons.
San Diego, renowned for its strong tourism base, is feeling the strain that many cities in the U.S. are currently experiencing.
In 2024, San Diego hosted over 32 million tourists who contributed approximately $22 million to the local economy.
However, hotel bookings have declined since then when compared to pre-pandemic years.
As of late June 2025, San Diego’s hotel occupancy stands at 81.5%, a disappointing figure when juxtaposed against last year’s performance.
Interestingly, not all indicators suggest a downward trajectory; tax revenue from hotel stays continues to rise, attributed to an increase in average room rates that now average around $220, marking a 26% spike since 2019.
Looking ahead to major upcoming global events, the San Diego Tourism Authority aims to attract international visitors through strategic marketing linked to the World Cup and the forthcoming Olympics.
However, addressing the escalating room rates poses a significant challenge for the city.
Meanwhile, New York City maintains its status as a leader in hotel occupancy, boasting an impressive 89% full rate in June 2025.
Despite this high occupancy, visitors face staggering room rates fueled by inflation, prompting concerns that this may deter both leisure and business travelers.
New York’s attractions—Broadway shows, museums, and shopping—continue to pull in millions, which is a testament to its global appeal.
However, the city’s population growth is not keeping pace with the influx of tourists, creating additional strain on the hospitality sector.
Boston has recorded noteworthy outcomes, with average hotel rates exceeding $275 and revenue per available room rising by over 24% year-on-year to $228.
Though occupancy rates may not lead the nation, the city’s high room rates can be attributed to a lack of competition and its appeal as a hub for business travel, conventions, and educational tourism.
However, the sustainability of these high rates in relation to the national demand forecast remains uncertain.
In South Florida, Miami’s hotel occupancy rate in June 2025 reached approximately 70.5%, falling short compared to Orlando and other areas within the state.
Yet, revenue per room climbed by 4.5%, illustrating that higher room rates can still bolster revenue despite fewer guests.
While Miami has traditionally benefited from international leisure and cruise traffic, it faces the challenge of ensuring relevance to domestic travelers amid rising demands from abroad.
Houston finds its tourism market under pressure in 2025, with a notable decline in performance compared to last year’s boosted figures, which may have benefitted from favorable weather conditions.
The city relies heavily on its convention center and business travel networks for tourism revenue, along with visitor traffic from the energy sector.
However, as Houston’s hotel metrics reveal, the volatility of tourism can be heavily influenced by unpredictable external factors.
In stark contrast, Las Vegas faces a significant 11% drop in visitor numbers in June 2025, resulting in an occupancy rate hovering just below 79%.
The revenue per room has also seen a decline of 7%, with RevPAR experiencing a nearly 14% fall.
This decrease is largely attributed to sluggish domestic travel along with a weaker convention calendar, emphasizing even leading tourist destinations are not immune to demand fluctuations.
The focus for Las Vegas is now on revitalizing attendance during the latter half of the year, leveraging a series of major shows and events to draw visitors back in.
Out West, Los Angeles has recorded modest gains, with hotel occupancy at about 72.5% and average room rates surpassing $205.
Although these figures reflect small increases, the city’s competitive landscape remains intense, as it contends with numerous accommodations affecting its tourism performance.
With the Olympic Games set for 2028, Los Angeles is striving to seize other global events to elevate its tourism profile while having to compete vigorously with other destinations.
Conversely, other cities, like Phoenix and New Orleans, are struggling significantly, with Phoenix reporting an occupancy rate below 60% and New Orleans falling to a troubling level just below 54%.
Such statistics highlight the unequal recovery of the tourism sector in the U.S., indicating a need for many cities to reconstruct and stabilize their demand sources.
The disparities in performance across these U.S. cities are noteworthy, demonstrating that tourism growth is not uniformly distributed throughout the country.
While some cities excel, others lag significantly behind—creating a complex landscape within the American tourism sector.
Considering the key changes observed in 2025, three fundamental trends surface.
First, hotel rates across many cities appear to be returning to—if not surpassing—the exorbitant highs witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Room rates are now 20% higher than those before the pandemic, thereby increasing local tax revenue.
However, such pricing strategies may also create an underserving environment for tourists.
Second, there seems to be a plateau in hotel occupancy growth across various emerging markets where previous gains are not reflected in current performance levels.
Lastly, the revival of tourism heavily leans on event calendars, with cities boasting extensive events thriving amid the changing landscape.
These shifts hold significant implications for local economies that rely on the tax revenue generated by the tourism sector.
At the same time, stagnation or drops in visitor numbers could lead to neglected visitor amenities, posing a long-term risk to tourism sustainability.
Moving forward into the latter half of 2025, San Diego is likely to adjust its tourism strategy by shifting focus away from regional tourism to broader national and international markets.
Las Vegas will aim to prioritize conventions and entertainment in hopes of rebooting its visitor appeal.
Boston and New York City will maintain their pricing power while Miami seeks to better balance its dual focus on international and domestic travelers.
Houston’s tourism landscape may continue to face challenges, with negative performance comparisons impacting growth.
In contrast, Phoenix and New Orleans will need to reevaluate their approaches in order to stimulate demand and recovery.
The national outlook for tourism moving forward appears stagnated, with projections of growth expected to lag behind the surges witnessed in 2022 and 2023.
As American tourism continues its evolution, 2025 represents a pivotal year that may signify the end of a rapid recovery phase, ushering in uncertainty while highlighting the need for adaptive strategies.
Major U.S. destinations are currently facing the pressures of rising hotel prices, fluctuating occupancies, and evolving visitor patterns which necessitate strategic adaptations to bolster revenue and sustain growth within the industry.
With changing tourist preferences and economic climates, cities better equipped to navigate these uncertainties will likely emerge healthier in this new tourism environment.
image source from：travelandtourworld
