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.
The numbers are comparing 24 to 25 and I’m guessing that a lot of international travel is planned more than a few months in advance. Really big trips may be planned a year in advance. My memory is fuzzy but I don’t think we got to the “oh, shit! They’re locking up random white middle class tourists from the EU, maybe I’ll just take the loss on that non-refundable airbnb deposit“ until maybe last fall?
But you’re right that the numbers are still way too damn high. As a USian I have a lot of be ashamed of and yeah, we should be rioting in the streets but people in real countries shouldn’t get too smug if they can’t even give up Disney World, Jim Beam and Twitter.