European Travel To US Drops 17% Amid Trump Backlash, Worries About Treatment Of Foreigners

Reflecting some mix of anti-Trump sentiment, unease over American treatment of foreigners and economic worries, European travel to the United States plummeted 17% in March versus the same month last year.  More broadly, global tourism to the USA dropped 12% — the biggest decline since travel restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

There’s even more trouble coming: Hotel giant Accord, with brands that include upper-tier brands Sofitel, Novitel and Fairmont, said Europeans’ summer bookings in the USA are down 25%. People aren’t merely opting not to visit the United States — more foreigners are cancelling trips they’ve already booked. The cancellation rate leapt 17% in the first quarter compared to last year — with the cancellation rate among French, German and British would-be visitors soaring 40%.  

There’s one seasonal factor that contributed to the fall-off: Easter fell in March last year, but April this year. However, Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics says Easter alone can’t account for the depth of the descent, telling the Financial Times that other data shows “it’s very clear something is happening . . . and it is a reaction to Trump.” He’s not the only one in the travel business pointing a finger at the White House. Didier Arino of French travel consultant firm Protourisme also blamed anti-Trump sentiment, and expressed amazement at the scale of the impact. “It’s unheard of. It’s happened before in a country at war, in a county where there was a security risk, or risk of health crisis, but in a normal situation, we’ve never seen this kind of turnaround,” he said.

Similarly, the CEO of luxury French tour operator Voyageurs du Monde told CNN his US bookings since Trump’s inauguration have fallen 20%, saying, “In the 30 years I’ve been in this business, I’ve never seen anything like this for any destination. It’s huge.” Tourism represents 2.5% of America’s economy, and international travelers spent $253 billion on US trips last year. 

Given the intensity of Western leftists’ revulsion over Trump, it’s reasonable to attribute some or maybe even most of the decline to politics and policies, but not all of it. With recession fears mounting, some travelers are likely opting against transatlantic travel to brace their personal balance sheets against potential trouble ahead.

That said, there are some Trump policies that hit travel where the rubber meets the proverbial road. Never mind the Trump administration’s progress in securing the Mexican border against infiltration of Venezuelan gang members and other would-be illegal immigrants. It’s an increasingly aggressive treatment of credentialed visitors that’s generating unease among would-be Western tourists. 

This is an absolutely horrific story.

This bloke has been living in the US for seven years *with a valid visa* but had it cancelled, a 5-year entry ban imposed and was deported to Australia by ICE.

The US is no longer a safe country to visit.https://t.co/tCXACIr7Bq pic.twitter.com/Zz8ZJ2BX66

— taipan168 (@taipan168) April 11, 2025

For example, British citizen Farah Mendlesohn told CNN she forfeited $1,000 in nonrefundable commitments and cancelled a long-planned summer trip to Oregon, Seattle and Vancouver after reading about Welsh resident Becky Burke, who was detained for 19 days and then expelled — wearing leg chains, waist chains and handcuffs — on the allegation that she worked illegally while in the US on a tourist visa. Burke was halfway through a US-Canada backpacking trip when she was nabbed leaving for Vancouver. Her parents told BBC she may have run afoul of US law by helping host families “around the house,” but was treated like Hannibal Lecter. 

Mendlesohn also feared that her previous provocative writing against sweeping UK anti-terrorism measures may have invited harsh treatment by border and customs officials. That’s not far-fetched in light of the Trump administration’s campaign to expel foreigners whose beliefs clash with those of the administration.

Mahmoud Khalil never expressed “hatred” toward the US. To the contrary, he came to the US, is married to an American with an American baby on the way, on a path to citizenship.

He criticized Israel. But because you’re drowning in AIPAC money, you think Israel is part of the US. https://t.co/bfHOCNNuhz

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 12, 2025

In the most prominent case, Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil — charged with no crime — was detained and whisked off to a prison in Louisiana over his activism relating to the Israel-Palestine conflict, on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “personal” determination that Khalil is antisemitic and that his continued presence in the USA would “undermine a significant foreign policy objective.” A federal judge affirmed Rubio’s unilateral, unchecked power to make such determinations under a 1952 law, with affected individuals holding no right to due process or ability to challenge the rationale. 

Danish citizen Robert Christiansen cancelled a trip to Texas where he’d planned to surprise his daughter who’s studying there. He attributed his decision to flight safety worries, and to the fact that he’s used social media to voice political views that vary from the Trump administration’s, concluding, “I cannot trust the government of the United States.” 

While Christiansen’s unease about vacationing in Dallas could be overblown, we must say, those are words for everyone on Earth to live by — no matter who’s in the White House.