US tourism sector faces $12.5 billion loss as visa restrictions expand
The put up US tourism sector faces $12.5 billion loss as visa restrictions expand appeared first on TD (Journey Each day Media) Travel Daily Media.
The US State Division’s current announcement on the suspension of visa processing in 75 countries not too long ago despatched shockwaves all through the world.
That is the newest in a string of orders proscribing entry into america, lots of which cite nationwide safety as their major raison d’etre.
However whereas safeguarding nationwide safety is all nicely and good, we have now to marvel if the related authorities have considered the repercussions the transfer can have on an already struggling financial system.
Certainly, restrictions typically hurt economies by controlling motion too broadly, thus affecting travellers already inside a rustic’s jurisdiction whereas discouraging others from even serious about planning journeys.
If we go by the World Journey & Tourism Council (WTTC)’s report from May 2025, america stood to lose as much as US$12.5 billion in vacationer spending; on the time, the visa restrictions utilized to simply 38 international locations.
Now, with processing suspended in a further 75 nations, the deficit anticipated in 2026 may very well be considerably bigger.
One of many hardest visas to get
To offer some historic context, then-US consul-general to the Philippines Michael R Schimmel declared in 2011 that seven out of each ten functions for a US visa would come away accredited.
Schimmel mentioned: “We very a lot need to see Filipinos go to the US. It’s in all people’s curiosity for Filipinos to journey to the US. We need to promote American companies. Journey is a big American enterprise. We need to see Philippine nationals come to the US for a variety of causes.”
Whereas the Philippines isn’t on both record of nations on the suspension record, Filipinos pondering of travelling to america for enterprise, pleasure, and even household issues are pondering twice, particularly when a rustic of serious world standing like Thailand was named among the areas covered by the brand new restrictions.
The sentiment is shared by lots of its neighbours all through Southeast Asia, particularly given the next methods by which the visa software course of has turn into harder:
- Stricter scrutiny of non-public particulars Apart from financials, employment historical past, and even proof of an absence of legal document, US immigration officials now delve into one’s activity on social media. Not solely do different nations see this as a violation of privateness in addition to censorship of a person’s proper to self-expression, however it’s also seen as a type of prejudiced red-tagging and witch-hunting for potential “enemies of the state;”
- The problem of proving non-immigrant intent It’s not sufficient for people to merely say that they are going to be returning to their residence international locations after both a quick keep for a company assembly or a for much longer one for schooling. Immigration officers now require candidates to point out strong proof of their ties to their international locations of origin, and even this will not be sufficient to persuade them to permit an applicant entry to the US;
- Large post-pandemic backlog This can be a downside not strictly tied to US embassies, however to any embassy working anyplace on this planet. When most international locations reopened their borders in early 2023, embassies discovered themselves coping with an immense backlog of visa functions spanning three years. Even with using superior software program for processing, some are nonetheless wading via functions courting way back to This autumn-2019;
- Third-country software is not an choice From private expertise within the Nineteen Eighties, the lengthy traces of visa candidates on the US Embassy in Manila drove my household to use for our vacationer visas in a 3rd nation; in our case, it was Malaysia. We weren’t the one ones, and a few would go so far as Thailand to get their visas. Now, beneath stricter rules, that is not attainable, and candidates must sweat it out on the native embassy of their nation of origin to use for one.
Falling numbers
Whereas American outbound journey is surging, it’s more and more obvious that inbound journey from key markets has all however dried up utterly.
Contemplate this: arrivals from the UK, one of many US’ most significant supply markets, are down by over 15 % year-on-year as of mid-2025.
On the identical time, arrivals from Germany are down 28 %, whereas these from South Korea are down by almost 15 %; even the US’ northern neighbour Canada isn’t eager on heading south for the vacations, arrivals from that finish dropping by greater than 20 % in the summertime of 2025.
Certainly, the WTTC notes that the general shortfall in overseas arrivals to the US may run between 24 % and 33 %.
The repercussions are beginning to present
In keeping with the identical WTTC report cited above, the journey and tourism sector contributed US$2.6 trillion to the US financial system in 2024, supporting over 20 million jobs, elevating over US$585 billion in tax revenues, and masking seven % of all authorities earnings.
The hospitality sector, particularly, is feeling the pinch of the restrictions and the general destructive sentiment concerning journey to the US: accommodations and different lodging all through america collectively misplaced round US$12 billion in revenues previously 12 months, reflecting a major decline in revenues per obtainable room (RevPAR).
Authorities shutdowns which additionally led to points concerning journey and transportation additionally considerably impacted US hospitality, resulting in income losses price round US$1.2 billion.
Theme parks, one of many largest cash spinners for US tourism, likewise reported a lackluster summer in 2025, with main gamers like Six Flags recording a 17 % drop in total attendance, and home Disney Parks dropping 783,000 guests throughout what ought to have been its strongest season.
In reality, it’s attention-grabbing to notice that attendance at Disney’s overseas parks in China, France, and Japan reported a 25 % surge in attendance numbers previously 12 months, with travellers opting not to go to the US to get their Disney repair.
Is there a means ahead from right here?
Admittedly, how the visa restrictions difficulty will play out over the long term is essentially depending on how issues will develop all through the following a number of months.
However the WTTC has definitely not minced phrases: with a view to maintain US journey and tourism from a major hunch, its authorities must instantly deal with journey entry, rebuild worldwide advertising efforts, and restore world traveller confidence within the nation.
Visa restrictions apart, nevertheless, world travellers are maintaining a detailed watch on the present sociopolitical state of affairs within the US and are, prudently, opting to maintain their distance for now.
The put up US tourism sector faces $12.5 billion loss as visa restrictions expand appeared first on Travel Daily Media.