25-05-2025
Boston tourism projected to see 10% drop in international visitors in 2025
Boston had hoped this year would bring a boost in international tourism, including visits from more than 800,000 Canadians. But revised projections paint a bleaker picture.
Despite initial forecasts for a 9% increase in foreign visitors, Boston is now expected to see international tourism drop 10% compared to last year, according to Meet Boston, the city's privately run tourism organization.
The decline is driven primarily by an expected 20% to 25% dip in Canadian visitors, Boston's greatest source of international travelers. But it is also made worse by lower-than-forecast tourism from other nations, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
The prevailing sentiment in Boston's tourism industry is, 'We'll see,' said Dave O'Donnell, vice president of strategic communications for Meet Boston.
International travel to Boston has not taken a significant hit so far this year, a cause for 'cautious optimism,' he said. But nationwide, the tourism industry is looking ahead with trepidation to the busy summer travel season.
Meet Boston expects the city to welcome 657,000 Canadian visitors this year, 21% lower than the 833,000 in 2024.
British tourists are forecast to decline from 185,000 last year to 171,000 this year, while Chinese visitors could drop from 135,000 to 124,000.
If the current projections hold, and international tourism falls 10%, Boston's revenue from foreign visitors could fall from $2.7 billion in 2024 to $2.5 billion in 2025, according to data provided to Meet Boston from Tourism Economics, a leading global tourism advisory company.
International travelers have historically made up 10% of Boston tourist volume. Yet they account for about 15% of visitor spending annually, according to Meet Boston.
Thousands of people in Greater Boston are employed in industries that rely on tourist dollars.
As of March, more than 253,000 people in the vast Boston metro area were employed in the hospitality and leisure industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than 56,000 Bostonians worked in 'accommodations and food services,' according to a city report from last year.
Yet not everyone is looking at the summer with foreboding.
Group reservations are up this year at Boston Duck Tours. Since opening for the season at the end of March, international visitors have increased from the same period last year.
'We're not talking hundreds of thousands of tickets this early on, but if we're looking at signs of things pointing in the right direction, it's encouraging,' Tom Vigna, the Duck Boats' director of marketing and sales, said.
'Right now, the rain is having a little more of an impact than anything else going on in the world,' he added.
Most analysts project international tourism to drop off across the country this year, a combination of economic factors and growing disdain for the U.S. abroad, according to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
Statewide, the office expects 4.4% fewer overseas visitors this year compared to last year, based on data from Tourism Economics.
A 'steep decline' in tourism to the U.S. is in motion, the organization warned last month.
'Policies and pronouncements from the Trump administration have contributed to a growing wave of negative sentiment toward the U.S. among potential international travelers,' it said. 'Heightened border security measures and visible immigration enforcement actions are amplifying concerns. These factors, combined with a strong U.S. dollar, are creating additional barriers for those considering travel to the U.S.'
Some foreign tourists may be spooked by the strict enforcement of immigration laws and look to recent incidents of tourists being detained or turned away at the border.
Many foreign tourists are less willing to consider vacationing in the U.S., angry at the hostility from the Trump administration to other nations and, in the case of Canada in particular, defiantly deciding to spend their dollars domestically, O'Donnell said.
The drop-off in Canadian visitors to the U.S. is not solely attributable to hostile rhetoric from President Donald Trump, O'Donnell said. There are economic factors too, including the strength of the U.S. dollar compared to the Canadian dollar.
But he said those challenges are longstanding, and the geopolitical tensions have 'severely exacerbated' the decline in Canadian tourism.
The Office of Travel and Tourism said it has done its best to combat the concerns of potential international visitors, assuring foreigners that despite what they see from the U.S. on the national level, Massachusetts remains a welcoming state for foreigners.
'While we recognize that global conditions are shifting and travelers are weighing new factors in their decisions, [Massachusetts] is focused on ensuring that our message to international audiences is clear: Massachusetts is open and ready to welcome all visitors,' Kate Fox, the office's executive director, said in a statement to MassLive. 'Tourism is vital to our economy and our communities, and we remain proactive in reinforcing Massachusetts as a premier destination for visitors from near and far.'
The fall-off in foreign visitors is hopefully not as significant for Boston as other areas of the country, O'Donnell said.
Another potential silver lining is that Boston is still forecast to see increasing tourism from some parts of the world this year, including India, Brazil and the Middle East. Tourism from countries such as Italy has not dropped off as much as Canada or the U.K.
Expanded flights to Boston — including from Madrid, Spain; Edinburgh, Scotland; Milan, Italy; and Vancouver and Halifax, Canada — could also provide a crucial boost for Boston's tourism industry.
However, business travel has already taken a hit, data show, including from Canada and Mexico — two of the nation's top trading partners — and from Europe.
The combination of dropping international tourism, tariffs, trade wars and unpredictable immigration policies 'really are creating a sense of fear and concern' among small businesses, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Wednesday.
'Boston has been very clear — we are a city that is welcoming to everyone," she said. 'This is a community where we welcome and protect not just our own residents, but all those who are visiting and all those who help contribute to our vibrant economy.'
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Read the original article on MassLive.
