America may lose US$20 billion in tourism spending as anxious visitors stay away
The US economy is set to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2025 from a pullback in foreign tourism and boycotts of American products, adding to a growing list of headwinds keeping recession risk elevated.
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Arrivals of non-citizens to the US by plane dropped almost 10 per cent in March from a year earlier, according to data published on Monday by the International Trade Administration. Goldman Sachs Inc. estimates in a worst-case scenario, the hit this year from reduced travel and boycotts could total 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product, which would amount to almost US$90 billion.
Foreign tourism has been a tailwind for the US in recent years as the cessation of pandemic-era restrictions sparked a resurgence of international travel. But many potential visitors are now rethinking their holiday plans amid increased hostility at the border, rising geopolitical frictions and global economic uncertainty.
One of them is Curtis Allen, a Canadian videographer who cancelled a coming US holiday after President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs on his home country and suggested it should become the 51st US state. Allen and his partner have been on multiple camping trips to Oregon over the years, but this year, they will be travelling around British Columbia instead.
'We're not just staying home,' said Allen, 34. 'We're going to go spend the same money somewhere else.'
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Allen's hesitance does not stop there. He cancelled his Netflix subscription and is actively avoiding American imports at the grocery store.
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