President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric have driven some international tourists to cancel their trips to the United States.
International travel is expected to dip by 5 percent this year as Trump’s trade policies, proposed handling of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and threats to absorb both Canada and Greenland into the U.S. have stoked tensions abroad.
Combined with an anticipated slide in domestic travel spending, these factors could contribute to a predicted $64 billion in losses for the U.S. travel industry in 2025, according to travel research firm Tourism Economics.
In a report published late last month, Tourism Economics predicted that “domestic travel will be negatively affected by slower income growth and higher prices” while international travel to the U.S. “will be hit by a trifecta of slower economies, a stronger dollar, and antipathy towards the US.”
Compared to last February, inbound travel to the U.S. last month dipped by 2 percent, preliminary U.S. government data shows.
Trump has demanded that Canada become its “51st state” and has imposed levies on the country.
International travelers are scrapping their plans to visit the U.S. in light of Trump’s policies and rhetoric (REUTERS)
“Now is also the time to choose Canada,” then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a speech in February following Trump’s initial tariffs. “It might mean changing your summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations our great country has to offer.”
Some north of the border now appear to be taking him up on that idea.
Canadians, the most common international visitors to the U.S., have stopped coming to the country. in droves. Last month, visits by car from Canada to the U.S. plummeted by 23 percent compared to February 2024, Statistics Canada data shows. Similarly, U.S. car trips to Canada decreased by 7.9 percent from the year prior.
Bertha Lopez, a 54-year-old who lives near Toronto, told the Washington Post she used to routinely drive across the U.S. border to buy staple foods, but that habit has come to a screeching halt in light of Trump’s recent rhetoric.
Lopez canceled a trip to Arizona to visit her friend’s sick husband and instead plans to buy her friend a ticket to visit her in Canada.
“All of this talk of making Canada the 51st state has been upsetting. It’s just incredibly offensive,” she said. “So I’m doing what I can: No more Tide. No more Coca-Cola. No more Disney. And barring a funeral or someone in the hospital, I am not going to the United States.”
Protesters in Canada hold up signs saying the country is ‘not 4 sale’ as Trump demands it become the U.S.’s ‘51st state’ (AP)
Trump has also renewed calls from his first term, saying he wants the U.S. to buy Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. The Danish government and the Greenlandic government have both said that the territory is not up for sale.
Overall travel from Western Europe was down 1 percent in February compared to the same month last year, while travel specifically from Denmark dipped by 6 percent in February compared to the same month in 2024, according to U.S. government data.
“Travel from Western Europe, which represented 37% of overseas travel to the U.S. last year, is susceptible to declines as a result of both tariffs and the administration’s perceived recent alignment with Russia in the war in Ukraine as sentiment towards the U.S. is damaged,” the Tourism Economics February report warns.
Last week, Trump threatened a 200 percent tariff on alcoholic beverages imported from the European Union, which he called “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.”
Jens Muellers, 31, and his father were planning to travel from Germany to Seattle over the summer to go on a road trip to see some of the national parks in the western U.S.
Trump’s recent remarks about the E.U. — on top of his layoffs at the National Park Service and budget cuts to other departments overseeing federal lands — prompted Muellers to shift gears and head to Canada, he told the Post. This trip would have marked his fifth trip to the United States.
“It’s a real shame and breaking my heart to see what is happening with the national parks and [its] employees right now,” he said. “We won’t come back to the U.S. until things change significantly.”
