Kaia Matheny (left) and Nora Lamphiear (right), co-owners of Adrift Restaurant in Anacortes, Washington.Kaia Matheny.Anacortes, a small coastal town in Washington state, typically bustles with tourists during the summer months.But local business owners like Kaia Matheny are bracing for less foot traffic — and a financial hit — this year as tensions around trade and concerns about immigration policy push foreigners to reconsider the U.S. as a travel destination.Matheny is the co-owner of Adrift Restaurant, a nautical themed farm-to-table eatery in downtown Anacortes. The town, a gateway to the San Juan islands, is a two-hour drive south of Vancouver.She’s seen sales fall amid fewer customers from Canada, which is generally the U.S.’ top source of international visitors. Air and land arrivals from Canadians fell 14% and 32%, respectively, in March compared to the same time in 2024, according to Tourism Economics.A sharp decline in foot traffic among foreign tourists looks set to persist through summer, data shows. Matheny is “wary” about what that will mean during peak season, which typically kicks off in June.Tourism “won’t be what it is usually,” Matheny said. “We’ll batten down the hatches and make the best of it.”A ‘quickly souring’ travel outlookTourism is a big U.S. export: Foreign visitors spent more than $180 billion here in 2024, more than all agricultural exports combined, said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.However, international visits to the U.S. fell 12% year-over-year in March, according to Oxford Economics.It’s not just Canada: Visits from Western Europe, Asia and South America — historically the U.S.’ highest-value travel markets — are also down by double-digit percentages, according to the U.S. Travel Association.[embedded content]Data suggests the weakness will persist through the summer.Air bookings for overseas summer travel to the U.S. are pacing about 10% behind the same time last year, according to Tourism Economics, which is affiliated with Oxford Economics. (These were booking …
