The number of European passengers visiting the US has fallen sharply as political and economic tension and fear of a hostile limit under President Donald Trump threaten the most profitable roads in the world.
Visitors from Western Europe who stayed at least one night in the US fell at 17 percent in March a year ago, according to the International Trade Administration.
Traveling from several countries – including Ireland, Norway and Germany – dropped by more than 20 percent, showed a FT Ana analysis of ITA data.
The trend poses a threat to the American tourism industry, which accounts for 2.5 percent of the country’s GDP. Some airlines and hotel groups have announced to seek request for transatlantic trips and a “bad buzz” to visit the JSC
The total number of overseas visitors traveling to the SH.BA fell by 12 percent year by year in March, the highest decline since March 2021 when the travel sector was withdrawing from the Pandemia’s limitations, according to ITA data.
“In just two months (Trump) has destroyed the reputation of the US, has shown a way by reducing the EU journey to the US,” said Paul English, co-founder of the Kayak travel website. “This is not only a more terrible blow to the American economy, it also presents damage to the reputation that can take generations to repair.”
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The decline may have partially reflected in the increase in travel during Easter, which fell in March last year, said Adam Sacks, president in the tourism economy.
But he said other data, including from US airports and land crossings from Canada, all showed “it is very clear that something is happening. And it is a reaction to Trump.”
Transatlantic roads are the most profitable in the world, and airlines have enjoyed the flowering demand on these flights from pandemia, especially in premium countries.
Virgin Atlantic last week warned of a “modest” slowdown on the transatlantic flight demand from US consumers, and Air France-Klm’s CEO Ben Smith said the carrier was forced to cut the economy class transatlantic tariffs in the market.
But the British Airways IAG owner and US carrier Delta Air Lines both said they had not seen any impact.
Airline assets are closely linked to the wider economy, as consumers tend to stop flying when worrying about a recession. Barclays analysts said this week they remained concerned about the transatlantic routes, where they expected the benefit of “suddenly reduced”.
Naren Shaam, CEO of the OMIO travel booking site, said the cancellation levels for booking in the US were 16 percent higher in the first quarter than a year ago – with travelers from the UK, Germany and France showing an even higher cancellation rate of 40 percent.
Sébastien Bazin, chief executive of the French hotel giant ACCOR, told Bloomberg that banning reports on the US border had created a “bad buzz” about the US visit.
Accor last week said that bookings for European visitors to the US this summer were 25 percent.
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The fall of international visitors to the US underlines the potential economic impact of a more aggressive border policy under Trump.
Last year, international visitors spent more than $ 253 billion on US travel and goods and services related to tourism, according to ITA, or more than 19 percent of $ 1.3TN in US travel expenses in 2024.
The US Travel Association, a group of industry, warned “about trends” that put factors including “a question of America’s welcome”.
Delta Glen Huuenstein’s president said the carrier had seen a “significant” decline in bookings from Canada. The airline withdrew its instructions this week in the midst of wider uncertainty.
Gloria Sync, an artist and author in Nottingham, England, said she canceled a May trip to San Francisco after seeing reports for detained tourists.
“The borders seem uncertain,” said Sync, who is transgender and said she was also concerned about “unwanted attention” her identity could bring to the border. “I don’t know if I will ever come back. To be honest.”
Traveling from Canadians, a major source of tourism for “winter-Sun” destinations, has also fallen. Places in the SH.BA like Las Vegas, for example, welcomed 1.4m Canadian in 2023 – or a quarter of all international visitors.
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Research firm Tourism economy, which had previously estimated a 9 percent increase in international arrivals compared to 2024, reviewed its forecast in a 9.4 percent decline instead of notifying Trump’s tariffs last week.
Sacks also showed Trump’s aggressive rhetoric to the EU, Greenland and Canada. “These are all forced errors, and they have a significant effect on the feeling of the US, and therefore travel.”
Trump’s tariffs and dismantling his administration for foreign aid agency USAID led retiree Paul Harrington, a British living in Paris, to cancel a trip to Washington DC next year.
His two daughters in the UK work in education and a recession can endanger public sector jobs.
“Now I’m contacting my US friends to visit me in Paris,” Harrington said. “I will not visit the states until Trump is gone.”
