Tourism in the United States is unable to stem its slide.
The FIFA World Cup didn’t move the needle. The industry, which generated $169 billion in revenue in 2025, continues its downward trajectory, even though in 2024 the sector had yielded $181 billion in spillovers, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
According to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the decline is around 5.8% for the first eight months of the year compared with a year that was already down.
This contradicts the statements of Nick Adams, the Trump administration’s Tourism guy, who told TourMaG.com that travelers had anticipated in 2025 that visiting the USA in 2026 would be more appealing, as the year was shaping up to be significantly more interesting in America.
And that would have been the case, due to the World Cup, but also the celebrations of the country’s 250th independence anniversary and the 100th anniversary of the legendary Route 66.
And yet.
USA: “These policies are sending a bad signal”
He also notes that the United States is “the only major country in the world to lose tourists, it’s astonishing“.
In September of last year, Freeman had the opportunity to speak with Donald Trump to discuss the situation.
He urges the president to back the goal of welcoming 100 million international visitors by 2030, even though his policies and statements are having opposite effects on international travel flows.
Canada, the leading source market for travelers to the United States, is down 23% over the past two years. Germany and France are down 16% and 15% respectively compared with 2025, a year that was already retreating for these two countries.
“Our industry is being hit hard by the 25% drop in Canadian visitors. The sooner trade disputes are resolved, the sooner we can restart our tourism economy. We must capitalize on what works: expanding the FIFA Pass concept to more events, speeding up visa processing and modernizing the traveler experience, while removing obstacles such as long visa wait times, high visa fees, increased social media scrutiny and reduced investment in the ‘USA’ brand. “, commented the CEO of the U.S. Travel Association to Travel Weekly.
United States: Arrivals figures (August 2026)
Key figures
-11.8%
3,079,268 visitors
Monthly year-over-year variation, January–August
Monthly year-over-year variation (%)
Variation by country of residence
Top 10 outbound markets
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