Donald Trump, who started his second term as United States president a little over a year ago, likes to talk about how he is making America great again. But, for foreigners planning their trips abroad, it appears Trump has played a significant role in reducing their perception that America is great — at least as a travel destination.
Ceylan Yeğinsu reported Thursday at the New York Times that America stood alone among major destinations in having a drop in foreign visitors last year. She wrote:
Last year, as tourism grew worldwide, the United States was the only major destination to see a decline in foreign visitors, recording a 6 percent drop, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, an industry group. January saw a continued decline in inbound visitors, down 4.8 percent from January 2025.
Why is America the loser in attracting foreign visitors? Yeğinsu points to several initiatives of Trump as contributing to the development, including current and planned Trump policies directly making traveling to America more burdensome:
The Trump administration has made it significantly harder for some travelers to enter the United States, barring visitors from more than a dozen countries and introducing a $250 ‘visa integrity fee‘ for nonimmigrant tourist and business visas designed to discourage visitors from overstaying. Visitors are also facing more rigorous vetting at the border, with increased searches of electronic devices, some resulting in detentions and denied entry. Citizens of countries who just need an electronic authorization to visit the United States may soon be required to provide up to five years of social media history to enter; that could result in a loss of up to $15.7 billion in visitor spending, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Typical of Trump’s “make America great again” braggadocio, in July the president declared in a “Made in America Week” proclamation:
Together, we are rebuilding our Nation with American heart, hands, and grit. We are bringing back a culture of boldness and creativity that will empower the next generation of innovators, unleash the full strength of the American spirit, and ensure our economy, our culture, and our way of life remain the envy of the world. Above all, under my leadership, we are proudly building, inventing, and creating in the United States of America once again.
“Envy of the world” or not, America is moving further from being the travel destination of choice of the world, and Trump appears to be largely to blame for that.
