The number of foreign visitors to the United States continues to decline, as a range of policies put forth by the administration of US President Donald Trump has made tourists wary of travelling to the country.In July, foreign visits to the US decreased by 3 percent year-over-year, according to recently released preliminary government data.That decrease follows a trend that has been seen almost every month since Trump took office in late January. For five out of six months, the US has experienced a drop in foreign visitors.“Everyone is afraid, scared – there’s too much politics about immigration,” Luise Francine, a Brazilian tourist visiting Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera.Experts and some local officials say Trump’s tariffs, immigration crackdown and repeated jabs about the US acquiring Canada and Greenland have alienated travellers from other parts of the world.Ryan Bourne, an economist at the Cato Institute, told Al Jazeera that the decline in tourism was tied to both Trump’s rhetoric and policies.“[The decrease] can be put down to the president’s trade wars and some of the fallout about fears about getting ensnared in immigration enforcement.”Travel research firm Tourism Economics predicted last week that the US would see 8.2 percent fewer international arrivals in 2025 – an improvement from its earlier forecast of a 9.4 percent decline, but well below the numbers of foreign visitors to the country before the COVID-19 pandemic.“The sentiment drag has proven to be severe,” the firm said, noting that airline bookings indicate “the sharp inbound travel slowdown” of May, June, and July would likely persist in the months ahead. Advertisement While the July 2025 figures don’t account for neighbouring Canada and Mexico, Canadian visitors in particular have been plummeting in number. One-quarter fewer Canadians have visited the U …
