This too shall pass. I'm a glass-full kinda guy. A great time to focus on initiating new, local, relationships and shoring up existing ones, as well as attending to our SFTGG internal projects, such as the Walking Tour Certification and completing Personal Profiles for our Hire-a Guide program.
Ceylan Yeğinsu | © 2025 The New York Times Company
Feb 20, 2026
Michelle Cowley, a London-based communications specialist, and her husband spent nearly two years planning a $16,000 vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida. Then their children, ages 7 and 11, heard about Renee Good and Alex Pretti being killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and didn't want to go.
Comments by President Donald Trump in January, including threats to annex Greenland and criticisms of British military contributions in Afghanistan, sealed the family's decision.
Comments by President Donald Trump in January, including threats to annex Greenland and criticisms of British military contributions in Afghanistan, sealed the family's decision.
"We have decided that it really is not the place we want to be at the moment," Cowley said.
Last year, as tourism grew worldwide, the United States was the only major destination to see a decline in foreign visitors, recording a 6% drop, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, an industry group. January saw a continued decline in inbound visitors, down 4.8% from January 2025.
Visitors from Canada, usually the second-largest source of U.S. tourism after Mexico, plunged by 28% in January compared with January 2024.
Other key markets like Germany and France also recorded significant declines, while Britain, the largest long-haul source market for U.S. tourism, saw a marginal growth of 0.5% compared with the previous year.
"When 11 million international visitors aren't showing up, the result is billions of dollars in economic losses to the travel industry," said Erik Hansen, a senior vice president at the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the country.
Visa Fees and Social Media Vetting
The Trump administration has made it significantly harder for some travelers to enter the United States, barring visitors from more than a dozen countries and introducing a $250 "visa integrity fee" for nonimmigrant tourist and business visas designed to discourage visitors from overstaying. Visitors are also facing more rigorous vetting at the border, with increased searches of electronic devices, some resulting in detentions and denied entry. Citizens of countries who just need an electronic authorization to visit the United States may soon be required to provide up to five years of social media history to enter; that could result in a loss of up to $15.7 billion in visitor spending, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
https://www.sfexaminer.com/11-million-visitors-short-inside-americas-continuing-tourism-slump/article_87476e87-c536-5625-b38c-c66caadff0dc.html
Greg