International travel to the United States anticipates an estimated 5pc drop this year, , according to Tourism Economics, which could lead to a $64bn shortfall in the travel sector, according to Tourism Economics.
Tourism Economics has revised its initial 9pc growth forecast due to recent political policies, particularly Donald Trump’s threats relating to tariffs directed at Canada and Europe.
Overseas visitors were down 2.4pc in February, with Africa, Asia, and Central America experiencing the largest declines.
Canadian travel to the US decreased by 23pc in February, contributing to forecasts that travel from Canada to the US could be down 15pc this year.
The USA’s hospitality and leisure sector has faced two consecutive months of job losses, contrasting with growth in the wider labour market.
The US inbound market is the third largest in the world after France and Spain. The forecast contradicts the Washington based National Travel and Tourism Office which forecasts 6.5pc growth in 2025 to 77m visitors
The US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) data shows Non-US citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from foreign countries was down 4.8pc to 4.116m in February 2025, 88.2 percent of pre-pandemic February 2019 volume.
US-international air traffic passenger enplanements were down just 1.4pc compared to February 2024, which was a leap year.
Total arrivals from Europe were up 1.3pc on February 2024 to 3.639m passengers, and down 3.1pc compared to February 2019. Of these 35,184 came from Ireland.
Top US. ports serving international locations were New York (JFK) 2.266m, Miami (MIA) 1.935m, Los Angeles (LAX) 1.618m, San Francisco (SFO) 1.044m, and Atlanta (ATL) 1.029m.
Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics shared: “There’s been a dramatic shift in our outlook. You’re looking at a much weaker economic engine than what otherwise would’ve been, not just because of tariffs, but the rhetoric and condescending tone around it.”
