The United States is heading into a major sporting summer as a travel destination that is losing ground, the head of the US Travel Association has warned. Jeff Freeman, the association's president and chief executive, said the country was the only one in the world to record a decline in international travel last year, even as the global industry expanded.
The figures he cited point to a widening gap. While international travel worldwide grew by more than 10 percent, the United States fell by more than 5 percent. Freeman said the country welcomed around 11 million fewer visitors last year than it did in 2019, leaving it, in his words, behind the eight ball as competitors pull ahead in the race for visitors.
He pushed back firmly against the idea that the United States is an unsafe place to visit. Freeman noted that 68 million people came to the country last year, and said nearly every one of them left having had a healthy, safe and enjoyable experience. He described warnings from some activist organisations that visitors are putting their safety at risk as patently absurd.
Cost, he argued, is part of the problem. Freeman pointed to visa fees, saying some travellers are being asked to pay around 500 dollars to enter the United States, compared with less than 50 dollars to visit the United Kingdom. He said that if the country wants to win the global competition for travellers, it has to take a hard look at policies like that and get the right message out.
The immediate hope is the FIFA World Cup, which Freeman said could deliver a projected 17.2 billion dollar boost, a figure raised in the interview against the backdrop of a roughly 70 billion dollar US travel trade deficit. He framed the tournament, along with the 2028 Olympics, as a chance to introduce the country to the world, while cautioning that such mega events are one-off moments rather than a lasting fix.
He stressed that the longer game is about turning first-time visitors into repeat ones. A traveller who has a good experience will come back and tell friends and family to do the same, he said, while a visitor who goes elsewhere and builds an affinity for another market may be lost for good. He added that the administration is currently weighing a range of potential policy reforms.
Freeman also pointed to the spread of the World Cup across the country as an opportunity for smaller destinations. With 11 host cities and roughly five days between matches, he said fans will have time to explore. He cited Kansas City, which is hosting several games, drawing in parts of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, and said many visitors staying 10 to 15 days will venture beyond the main gateway cities.