Tourism Boycott Costs America $22 Billion in Revenue

A growing international tourism boycott has triggered a sharp decline in foreign visitors to the United States, with projections indicating the country may lose $22 billion in tourism revenue this year. The drop in international arrivals comes as travelers from traditional top markets including Canada, Europe, and Asia increasingly choose alternative destinations in response to political tensions and border concerns.

According to data released Tuesday by the National Travel and Tourism Office, visits to the U.S. from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared to the same month last year. For the first quarter of 2025, international arrivals dropped 3.3% from the previous year, with forecasting company Tourism Economics now projecting a 9.4% annual decline, as reported by Travel Weekly.

“The survey data is all indicating a significant mix of cancellations and a massive drop in intent to travel,” said Tourism Economics president Adam Sacks, whose firm originally anticipated a 9% increase in international arrivals this year but has dramatically reversed its outlook based on recent trends.

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Northern Neighbors Turn Their Backs

The steepest declines are coming from Canada, America’s largest source of international visitors with 20.2 million arrivals in 2024. Flight Centre Travel Group Canada reports leisure bookings to U.S. destinations plummeted 40% in March compared to the same month last year. Air Canada has already reduced its schedule of spring flights to popular destinations including Florida, Las Vegas, and Arizona due to collapsing demand.

Ian Urquhart, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, canceled his planned five-day trip to Las Vegas despite losing a $500 deposit. “None of us jumped for joy when we made those decisions, but it seemed to be one of the few ways we could signal how we felt about the bullying that has been directed towards Canada by your president,” Urquhart told Travel Weekly.

Beyond, a revenue management platform for vacation rental owners, reported that Canadian searches for short-term rentals in the U.S. plunged 44% after February 1st, when tariffs on Canadian goods were first announced. Florida, Texas, and New York experienced the most significant booking declines.

U.S. visas are a privilege, rather than a right, reserved for those who make the United States better, not seek to destroy it from the inside. – @SecRubio in his Fox News editorial

🔗: https://t.co/Lp1HL2ZXyw pic.twitter.com/bK4B1TPE4a
— Department of State (@StateDept) April 12, 2025

Europeans Vote with Their Passports

European travelers are similarly redirecting their vacation plans. Olja Ivanic, U.S. CEO of Austria-based Longevity Labs, had four Swedish relatives cancel their planned Colorado, Los Angeles, and San Francisco trip after witnessing diplomatic tensions. “The way (Trump) treated a democratic president that’s in a war was beyond comprehensible to them,” Ivanic explained.

Marco Jahn, president of California-based New World Travel, which works with overseas tour operators, reports bookings have dropped between 20% and 50% depending on the source market over the past 8-10 weeks. Scandinavian countries show particular declines following repeated threats to take control of Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark.

“The U.S. is not perceived as a welcoming destination,” Jahn noted, reflecting concerns echoed by numerous international tour operators who have seen dramatic booking declines for U.S. destinations.

Border Incidents Amplify Concerns

Highly publicized incidents of tourists being detained or deported at U.S. borders have further dampened international interest. The Boston Globe reports that several European countries issued travel warnings following incidents including a French scientist turned away in Houston for social media criticism, three British musicians refused entry at Los Angeles, a Canadian actress chained and jailed for 12 days when applying for a visa, and a German visitor arrested at Logan Airport and interrogated in Rhode Island.

These incidents have contributed to formal travel warnings issued by Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, creating unprecedented barriers to tourism from traditionally reliable markets.

Economic Impact Deepens

Tourism Economics now expects U.S. spending by international visitors to drop by $9 billion this year. The total impact on the U.S. travel industry could reach $64 billion when factoring in reduced domestic travel, which isn’t offsetting international losses as many Americans postpone trips due to economic concerns and service reductions at popular destinations like national parks.

“Tourism is a major American industry. It is the seventh-largest employer and contributed $2.36 trillion to the economy in 2023, more than agriculture or the automobile industry,” writes Elizabeth Becker, author of “OVERBOOKED: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism,” for The Boston Globe. “But tourism is also sensitive to cultural and political shifts.”

Tourism experts project that this decline could significantly delay recovery, with international visits not expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels until 2029—a full four years later than previously expected. Beyond economic losses, the social impact of reduced cultural exchange threatens to isolate American communities from global perspectives.

As Randy Durband, CEO of Global Sustainable Tourism Council, told The Boston Globe, “Why would you come to the United States today? Travel is a feeling. You want to go someplace where you feel good and comfortable and safe. That’s not America now and people get that. They have plenty of other choices.”

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