Key Points
- Overseas arrivals fell 4.3% in September to 2.7 million, with 13 of the top 20 markets down and year-to-date arrivals off 5.7%.
- Western Europe drove the decline: nearly 89,000 fewer visitors, almost three quarters of the month’s total drop, led by France at -15% and the Netherlands at -13%.
- Canada is recovering slowly — return trips from the U.S. rose 6.8% for a sixth straight month — but car trips are still down 31% and air trips nearly 19% versus September 2024.
Summary
Overseas arrivals to the U.S. fell again in September, down 4.3% year over year to 2.7 million, according to preliminary National Travel and Tourism Office data. The month extends a run of weak results that includes a nearly 12% drop in August and soft June and July figures despite World Cup visitors, leaving year-to-date arrivals down 5.7%. Western Europe accounted for almost three quarters of the monthly decline, with France down 15%, the Netherlands down 13%, Ireland down 12%, and Germany and Italy each down 10%. Gains in China, up nearly 15%, Taiwan, up nearly 13%, and India, up 2%, were wiped out by a 25% drop from South Korea, leaving Asia down 0.3%. The data excludes Mexico and Canada, though Canadian return trips from the U.S. rose 6.8% in September, a sixth straight month of growth from a deeply depressed base — car trips remain down 31% and air trips nearly 19% against September 2024. The numbers land as the U.S. Travel Association and about a dozen travel executives press a target of more than 100 million international visitors by 2030, pitched to President Donald Trump last month.