Fewer foreigners visited US in 2025, even as global tourism spending rose
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The US registered a 6 per cent drop in foreign visitors in 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Global tourism spending rose 6.7% in 2025 to US$11.7 trillion, contributing 10.3% to global GDP, driven by frequent travel.
- US foreign tourism dropped 6% in 2025 due to anti-immigration policies, impacting spending, although domestic tourism compensated.
- Europe and Japan experienced record tourism in 2025, and the global industry expects 4.5% growth in 2026, outpacing economic growth.
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MADRID - The United States registered a 6 per cent drop in foreign visitors in 2025 even as global tourism overrode concerns about saturation in some locations to generate a 6.7 per cent rise in spending compared to the previous year, according to an industry group.
More than 1.5 billion tourists spent US$11.7 trillion (S$15 trillion) on hotels, cruises and flights in 2025, according to the data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
The tourism industry’s contribution was equivalent to 10.3 per cent of global gross domestic product, with tourism spending growing at twice the pace of global economic growth, WTTC said.
With many people, especially from younger generations, travelling more frequently, concerns including US anti-immigration policies pushed tourists to European countries such as Spain and France, as well as Japan, said WTTC interim president and chief executive officer Gloria Guevara.
Latin Americans including Colombians and Mexicans travelled less to the US, with Mexicans who still went to the US making shorter trips, she said in an interview in Madrid.
As foreign tourism in the US dipped, the world’s third most visited country saw foreign tourists spend 7 per cent less as arrivals from Canada, Mexico and Europe fell, according to WTTC estimates.
However, spending by domestic tourists offset this. The US is the world’s largest travel and tourism economy.
The tourism industry continues to grow despite backlash by some locals in tourist hotspots, Ms Guevara said.
“We have not seen the impact of overtourism, and the best example is precisely where overtourism has been generated, particularly in Europe and Japan, where we are seeing another record,” she said.
The global tourism industry is expected to grow 4.5 per cent in 2026, again outpacing global economic growth, according to the WTTC.
France received 105 million visitors in 2025, while more than 96.5 million tourists arrived in Spain, according to WTTC estimates, well above the 68 million who visited the US in 2025. REUTERS
