MADRID, Spain: Global tourism continued to broaden in 2025, however the United States moved in opposition to the pattern, recording fewer international guests whilst vacationers worldwide spent extra and travelled extra usually, business knowledge confirmed.
The U.S. noticed a six % decline in international guests final yr, in accordance with figures launched by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The drop got here as international tourism spending climbed 6.7 % from the earlier yr, regardless of issues about overcrowding in in style locations.
More than 1.5 billion vacationers worldwide spent a mixed US$11.7 trillion on motels, cruises, and flights in 2025, the WTTC mentioned. Tourism accounted for 10.3 % of world gross home product, with spending rising at roughly twice the tempo of the broader international financial system.
Shifts in journey preferences and coverage issues helped divert guests away from the United States, notably towards locations in Europe and Asia, mentioned WTTC interim President and CEO Gloria Guevara.
With folks, particularly youthful vacationers, taking extra frequent journeys, issues about U.S. anti-immigration insurance policies led vacationers to European international locations reminiscent of Spain and France, in addition to to Japan, Guevara mentioned in an interview in Madrid.
Latin American guests, together with Colombians and Mexicans, travelled much less to the United States, she mentioned, including that Mexicans who did go to tended to take shorter journeys.
As international arrivals fell, the world’s third-most-visited nation additionally noticed spending by abroad vacationers drop by about seven %, reflecting declines in guests from Canada, Mexico, and Europe, in accordance with WTTC estimates. That fall was offset by home journey spending, nevertheless, leaving the United States the world’s most in depth journey and tourism financial system total.
Globally, the tourism sector has continued to broaden regardless of protests and resistance from residents in some closely visited locations, Guevara mentioned.
“We have not seen the impact of overtourism, and the best example is precisely where overtourism has been generated, particularly in Europe and Japan, where we are seeing another record,” she mentioned.
The WTTC forecasts that international tourism will develop by an extra 4.5 % in 2026, once more outpacing international financial development.
Europe remained the world’s prime draw for vacationers final yr. France welcomed an estimated 105 million guests in 2025, whereas Spain obtained greater than 96.5 million vacationers, in accordance with WTTC figures. Both far exceeded the roughly 68 million international guests recorded by the United States.