US visitor numbers dropped by millions last year, showing a huge decline for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Four million fewer foreign visitors entered the US in 2025 compared to 2024, while the total spending decreased by more than $8bn (£5.95bn), an analysis of the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) data shows.
In 2024, the total number of visitors to the US reached over 72 million. This number fell to over 68 million in 2025.
This is well below the number of international visitors the NTTO forecast for 2025, when they predicted the United States would welcome 77 million, up 4.7 million from the previous year.
The reality was the reverse, as the country saw 4,009,072 fewer arrivals throughout 2025.
The country has yet to hit its pre-Covid levels of visitors, which stood at over 79 million before the pandemic.
Since then, there has been a steady increase in visitors over the years. The year 2025 signifies the first time the arrival numbers have dropped post-Covid.
The total spending in the US was $8.4bn less (adjusted for inflation and exchange rates), compared to the year before, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), CNN reports.
Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The Independent, said: “US tourism is substantially protected with the benefit of a huge and wealthy domestic market. But as the 2026 World Cup approaches, with what I predict will be a slump in early summer tourism, there could be some serious price-cutting to get people on transatlantic planes and into hotel rooms and rental cars.”
Despite the decline, the WTTC said that the US remains the largest travel and tourist market in the world – but it is slowly losing its market share.
North America was the slowest-growing region globally in terms of GDP, rising just one per cent. It grew by only 0.9 per cent in the US.
Gloria Guevara, the president and CEO of WTTC, said that to avoid losing its leadership position, the US “must invest in promoting its attractiveness, both in international markets and during the summer of football; change perception and position the US as a welcoming destination; and grow international visitor spend, encouraging stopovers and new experiences”.
The WTTC said that 80 million more people travelled internationally across the globe in 2025, showing that travel wasn’t slowing down on average.
Arrivals from Canada made up the largest decline to the US, with 4.2 million less visiting last year.
This was followed by Germany (over 224,000), India (over 129,000) and France (over 116,00).
Visitors from the United Kingdom actually increased by 21,000, totalling over four million.
Meanwhile, one million more arrivals from Mexico were recorded in 2025 than the previous year, totalling almost 18 million.
Read more: ‘America must be more welcoming’: Tourist visits to the US are falling, led by one country
