UGLY DUCKLING

U.S. Was Only Major World Destination Where Tourism Declined in 2025

This year is off to a poor start, too.

Tourism is booming worldwide, except in the U.S. Visitor numbers at every key global tourist destination grew last year, but the World Travel and Tourism Council says there was a 6 percent drop in trips to the U.S. So far, 2026 is off to a poor start too, with January down 4.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Mexico and Canada are usually the top two sources, but visitors from the latter plummeted 28 percent in January compared to January 2024. Senior vice-president at the U.S. Travel Association, Erik Hansen, said, “When 11 million international visitors aren’t showing up, the result is billions of dollars in economic losses to the travel industry.” It comes as President Trump’s administration makes it significantly harder for visitors to come to the U.S., amid bans on certain countries, higher visa fees, and ICE anxiety. “We have decided that it really is not the place we want to be at the moment,” London-based mom Michelle Cowley told the Times, after she canceled her family trip to Disneyland, Florida. Disney warned of “international visitation headwinds” at an earnings call earlier this month. The U.S. hosts the soccer World Cup this summer.