Millions of international travelers who are turned off by President Donald Trump’s policies on everything from tariffs to immigration are choosing to spend their vacation dollars elsewhere — and it’s costing the U.S. economy up to $29 billion, according to reporting in Forbes.
The report cited a study from the World Travel & Tourism Council that revealed the U.S. was the only country out of 184 studied that was expecting a decline in tourist spending in 2025.
Forbes quoted Julia Simpson, president and CEO of WTTC, saying, “While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.”
At least that’s the perception being received by international tourists, according to Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics.
“In its latest client note, Tourism Economics blamed ‘sentiment headwinds’ for its projections of significant declines in visitation from Canada (-20.2%) and Western Europe (-4.9%) in 2025. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, travel bans, inflammatory rhetoric and harsh immigration policies have combined for a chilling effect on visitors—and there’s little indication of a reversal anytime soon,” Forbes reported.
Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics, told Forbes, “Given we’re halfway through the year and we’ve seen these impacts, we don’t know when the stiffest headwind is, but I think it does stay sustained. We’re generally assuming that this persists for a while and that some of it is going to persist throughout the end of the administration.”