TORONTO — The U.S. is on track for 2 million fewer international visitors in 2026, according to the U.S. Travel Association’s President and CEO, Geoff Freeman.
U.S. outlets including Axios and the New York Post say Freeman shared the latest international inbound numbers that showed a decline in visitation over the summer, even with the FIFA World Cup matches in 11 cities across the country.
There was a 2% year-over-year drop in June, a 7% drop in July and an 11% decrease in August.
The projected 2 million drop for 2026 is a relative improvement over 2025’s numbers, when international visitation to the U.S. was down 11 million, but it’s also a 20% drop from pre-pandemic highs.
In an interview with the Post, Freeman cited the many factors contributing to the decline. “Some of it is individuals who are upset about various trade issues and have decided that they’re going to boycott the United States,” he said, noting that the would-be visitors who avoid the U.S. due to detainment concerns is especially concerning. “They believe that they’re not welcome in the United States, they believe things that are often untrue, and that’s where we need the government to partner with the private sector and send a clear message to travellers around the world that the U.S. is open for business.”
Axios noted that visitation from Canada is down 23% over the two years. Germany’s U.S. visitation numbers have dropped 16% and France’s are down 15%. Freeman told Axios: “We’re the only major country in the world losing visitation. It’s mind-boggling.”
When Freeman and U.S. travel industry CEOs met with the U.S. administration earlier this month, he said inbound tourism hit a record level of nearly 80 million in 2018. “The next goal should be 100 million international visitors a year by 2030 – striving to make the United States the most visited country in the world,” said Freeman in a statement after that meeting.
Funding is still an issue. In 2025 the government cut Brand USA’s budget by 80%, from US$100 million annually to $20 million.
In his talk with the Post, Freeman said: “This does not seem like an opportune time to be cutting the funding of the organization whose job it is to encourage travel to the United States.”
Canadian travel to the U.S. has inched up ever so slightly lately – at least in the last weeks of summer – with the first double-digit increases not just for transborder Canada-to-U.S. car crossings (+10%), but crucially for the retail travel industry, air travel too (+3.6%). It could take a while for the monthly stats to show the impact of the renewed trade war tactics and rhetoric.
