US Travel plans in the bin?
- Greg Richards
- Apr 1
- 3 min read
Encountering a discarded map of the USA in the street was a clear sign of the change. Instead of being used as a holiday planning tool, the map is now consigned to the trash. No point in considering a destination that doesn’t want you to visit. This was most starkly underlined by a BBC headline labelling the US as ‘A hostile state', describing how some travellers are now avoiding the world’s number 1 travel destination.
Canadians are leading the ‘avoid the USA’ charge in the face of Trump’s tariff plans and comments about Canada being the ‘51st State’ of the USA. Total arrivals to the US border fell by 5% in February 2025, and the drop in arrivals from Canada was even more dramatic, with a 23% drop in overland travel to the U.S. in February and a 2.4% decline in air travel. Many Canadians are also changing their future travel plans, with bookings down 76% for April. Tourism Economics has predicted a 5.1% decline in travel to the USA this year, with spending falling by 12.3%, or a $22 billion annual loss in travel revenues.
In addition to trade tensions and exchange rate fluctuations, many countries have sharpened their travel advisories for the US after a series of exclusions and detentions at the border since Trump came to power. Detentions of Canadian and European tourists has prompted Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Finland, France and Portugal to issue travel warnings for the USA. Initial figures from European tour operators indicate a 1% fall in business to date, but larger impacts are expected during the summer.
The impact of bans and boycotts is likely to be even greater for certain groups, particularly LGBTQ+ travellers. According to the Spartacus Gay Travel Index, the U.S has fallen significantly in the 2025 rankings dropping 7 places to 48th. As recently as 2012 the USA was ranked 37th in the world. Becoming gay-unfriendly is likely to reduce travel to the US and hit the travel industry hard. It will particularly frustrate the travel ambitions of young people, who often head to the US for backpacking, study, au pair and other experiences. WYSE Travel Confederation’s New Horizons youth travel survey indicated that 18% of travellers to New York City identified themselves with the LGBTQ+ community. The high level of LGBTQ+ travel to New York is a reflection of the city working hard to position itself as “the world’s number one LGBTQ+ destination”. This position was confirmed by the MSN top 50 LGBTQ destination rankings at the start of the year:
1. New York
New York City is synonymous with diversity, and its LGBTQ+ scene is iconic, with multiple queer-centric neighborhoods over time, including West Village, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, and even Bushwick. As the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, NYC is a living mosaic of LGBTQ+ history and vibrancy, culminating each year in the globally renowned NYC Pride March.
The role of inclusivity is particularly important for youth travellers. Young people are particularly likely to identify as LGBTQ – for example, in the US Nearly 30% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ. A Statista survey in 2022 also indicated that young travellers also more likely to consider inclusivity important in their choice of destination (12% compared with 8% of travellers overall). Given that WYSE Travel Confederation research shows that youth travel plays an important role in stimulation future visits to a destination, this is likely to have long-term as well as short-term impacts. Making LGBTQ travel harder will also reduce travel spending – LGBTQ travellers tend to have higher incomes and spend more than other visitors to the US.
In spite of the uproar, it seems Visit USA didn’t get the memo from Trump about avoiding diversity. Tourists are being actively encouraged to visit the country to celebrate Women’s History Month. Of course, the majority of States listed in this advertisement, like New York, are solidly Democrat.
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