THE GREAT DETOUR

Tourists Boycott U.S. at Record Rates After Trump Takeover

The United States had roughly 4 million fewer international visitors in 2025 than the year before.

Millions of international travelers are increasingly choosing to avoid the United States.

The United States had roughly 4 million fewer international visitors in 2025 than the year before, marking a 5.5 percent decline in overseas tourism, according to CNN. Foreign visitor spending also fell by more than $8 billion.

Aside from the collapse in travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, it represents the sharpest annual drop in international tourism in roughly 20 years.

Visitor numbers declined from several countries, including Germany, India, France, Australia, Chile, and China, but the largest drop came from Canada, with far fewer Canadians traveling to the United States.

Data from mobile tracking firm Cuebiq suggests Canadian travel to major U.S. cities may have fallen by as much as 42 percent over the past year—far steeper than the official estimate of a 25 percent decline in border crossings.

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Travelers say they are avoiding trips to the United States because of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, hardline policies, and the political fallout surrounding the war in Iran.

That is especially true for Canadians. Relations between the U.S. and Canada, historically close allies, have broken down since Trump began his second term.

Trump has floated the idea of annexing the country and making it the 51st U.S. state, and slapped tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and automobiles.

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The president’s trade war with Canada has been blamed for a sharp drop in Canadian tourism to Las Vegas, a city where Canadian visitors typically make up a major share of international travel.

After Trump imposed tariffs on Canada last year, visits from Canadians fell by 17 percent, contributing to a 7.5 percent overall decline in tourism, Politico reported.

With tourism season underway in the key battleground state of Nevada, Democrats are tying the downturn directly to Trump’s policies.

“Trump instituted his reckless tariffs. In response, Canadians have literally boycotted traveling to America,” Rep. Susie Lee told Politico. “That has had a significant impact on our tourism.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, including in Canada.

As a result, a February Politico poll found that most Canadians now view the United States as an unreliable partner and ally.

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The same poll found that Canadians are far more likely than Europeans to view the U.S. as a greater threat to global peace than Russia.

The decline in U.S. tourism stands out globally. International travel increased sharply in 2025, with roughly 80 million more people traveling abroad than the year before, but many chose destinations other than the United States, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

“We used to be a country that others wanted to emulate. That narrative no longer exists,” Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, told CNN.

“The long-term harm 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 Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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