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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Fewer foreign tourists are visiting NYC. The city is feeling the pinch
By Jason Carroll, CNN
Updated:
8:30 AM EDT, Sat June 7, 2025
Source: CNN
Bill Martin says he has heard all kinds of concerns lately from people
considering a visit to the United States.
“Worries about getting in, worries about being detained at the
border. I think there is a worldwide fear about what is happening
here,” said the Australian, who spoke to CNN recently while on an
open-air bus tour of New York City.
Martin is on a six-week trip that’s included a cruise from Tokyo to
Vancouver and a stopover in New York. Along the way he says he’s had
lots of conversations with his fellow travelers about how the US’
status as a magnet for tourists has changed.
“There is doubt as to whether people will get in (to the country),”
he added. “And that causes people to think of a better destination to
visit than the USA.”
Eman Moretti, an Italian who is studying in the United States, said
President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies have made him
nervous about his family visiting him in New York.
“With Trump it was a bit harder even for them to come,” said the
student, flanked by his mother, father and his two brothers on a recent
midday stroll through Times Square. “It was challenging, because you
never know if people get in through customs. So it was a bit (of a)
hostile environment.”
“Your visa could be canceled,” added Javier Muenala, visiting Times
Square from Ecuador. “So it’s a lot of risks that many people
don’t want to take.”
This anxiety from foreigners about travel to the US in 2025 is
increasingly reflected in the numbers. Spending by international
travelers to the United States is expected to be down $12.5 billion
this year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Some of the nation’s leading tourist destinations, including Orlando,
Miami and Los Angeles, are bracing for how the decline will impact
businesses that rely on spending from international travelers.
The downturn is being felt especially hard in New York City, the
nation’s top destination for international travel.
New York City Tourism + Conventions, the city’s official marketing
organization, has cut its forecast for international tourists in 2025
by 17%. Julie Coker, the group’s CEO and president, told CNN the
city is expected to host 2 million fewer international travelers this
year than in 2024.
“We are still hopeful, but we are starting to see the bookings slow
down some,” Coker said.
“International tourism is extremely important to us because while it
only makes up 20 percent of our total visitation, it accounts for 50
percent of our visitor spend. This was to be the year we were to hit
pre-Covid levels … and so to have this stall or pause it’s what’s
disappointing.”
Canadians are increasingly skipping travel to the US
New York City is the for international visitors to the US. And more
people historically visit the US from Canada than from any other
country. But there’s recent evidence that some Canadians, offended by
the coming from Washington, are .
Coker says the decline in New York City tourism is partly the result of
having fewer Canadian visitors.
Tour operators such as Matt Levy, who has seen a slowdown in business,
agrees.
“They’re going to Halifax, they’re going to Nova Scotia,
they’re going to Vancouver. They’re spending money in their own
country, said Levy, owner of , which offers customized tours of New
York for art lovers, foodies, families and other groups.
Levy has been leading tours of the city for three years. He says much
of his business relies on international tourism, especially Canadian
student groups.
But in recent months Levy says Canadian travel agents have told him
their clients are avoiding the States because they’re unnerved by
threats of tariffs or turned off by Trump’s comments about making
Canada the 51st state.
Levy said that if the political climate doesn’t improve, business for
him will likely be even worse in 2026.
“Next year is going to be hard. Next year is going to be vicious,”
he said.
“My three largest Canadian clients, all three of them told me
universally (that) the PTA boards aren’t going to let the kids come
to America. They’re going to say, no, we’re going to spend money in
our country instead,” he said. “That’s 40 percent of my
business.”
One NYC tour guide said she’s seeing fewer bookings
Renée Rewiski has been a tour guide in New York City for more than a
decade and says she has not seen numbers like this since the doldrums
of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This time last year (we had) 20 people on the tour. We have five
today,” Rewiski said on a recent day as she led a handful of tourists
around lower Manhattan. “I’m just seeing fewer people and from
fewer countries,” she said.
Rewiski is a guide with , which offers walking tours of such landmark
New York neighborhoods as Brooklyn, Harlem and Greenwich Village. She
worries that if something does not change soon, jobs could be at risk.
“I’m not sure what we can do. I’m not sure how to change the
attitudes, but just know people are losing their jobs in New York City
(and) you’re hurting the wrong people,” she said, addressing her
comments to foreign tourists.
“The people who are doing some of the things you’re not liking are
not the ones getting hurt,” she added. “We’re the ones that are
being hurt.”
Despite the recent headwinds, no one CNN spoke to in the New York
travel industry says they’re giving up. The hope is the heated
political climate will cool down and events such as the 2026 World Cup
in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the US’ 250th anniversary
next summer will boost interest among international visitors.
In the meantime, Coker of NYC Tourism + Conventions says her
organization has been promoting the city with a campaign that’s been
running since May outside the US. It’s called, “With Love +
Liberty, New York City.”
Coker has a message for anyone thinking about visiting the Big Apple.
“What we say to them is… New York City is open for business,” she
says. “And while we have hit a bump in the road, we’re here when
you’re ready to visit.”
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