The ‘self-inflicted injury’ to US tourism that’s making some Americans angry and disappointed
Typically, Canadians will flood the streets of Seattle during the summer, but Koenen, who runs Seattle Free Walking Tours (where people pay what they can), said Canadian tourists are almost gone. Streets look emptier to him.
Brink’s company, Tasty Tours, which guides visitors through food stalls in the historic Pike Place Market, has seen a 50% drop in Canadian customers.
Many Canadians have boycotted taking US trips and buying American products since the spring. That’s when President Trump made false claims and belittling comments about Canada in the midst of a tariff war.
The absence of Canadians has been felt acutely in the United States, especially in cities like Seattle close to the northern border. And Canadians aren’t the only international travelers skipping the US. Some other international travelers have also named recent policies around tariffs and immigration as reasons they’re staying away.
The World Travel and Tourism Council, a global tourism advocacy organization, projected in May that the United States will lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025, the only country out of 184 economies the council analyzed that will see a decline this year.
Rob Hawkins, from the United Kingdom, changed plans he and his wife had for a 20-day spring 2026 trip to the US to go to South Korea and Japan instead.
“America to me is rock ‘n roll, NASA, speed, jazz, horses, bourbon, hip hop, dance, MTV (the original), Hollywood, gold medals, innovation, strength, respectful (sic) and apple pie,” Hawkins told CNN in an email. “Not the army on the streets and the extreme division currently on show,” he said, referring to the National Guard presence in Los Angeles during immigration raids and in Washington D.C. to take federal control of the local police force.
“It’s unheard of,” said Didier Arino, general director of travel consulting firm Protourisme in France, about an unprecedented drop in interest for travel to the US.
“It’s happened before in a country at war, in a country where there was a security risk, or risk of health crisis, but in a normal situation, we’ve never seen this kind of turnaround,” Arino told CNN.
Beyond citing fears of being questioned at the border, or general opposition to the Trump administration’s policies, visitors from some countries are now facing an added upfront cost of $250 for a new “visa integrity fee.”
“While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign … This is about growth in the U.S. economy — it is doable, but it needs leadership from DC,” Simpson said.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/31/trave...ted-states
Typically, Canadians will flood the streets of Seattle during the summer, but Koenen, who runs Seattle Free Walking Tours (where people pay what they can), said Canadian tourists are almost gone. Streets look emptier to him.
Brink’s company, Tasty Tours, which guides visitors through food stalls in the historic Pike Place Market, has seen a 50% drop in Canadian customers.
Many Canadians have boycotted taking US trips and buying American products since the spring. That’s when President Trump made false claims and belittling comments about Canada in the midst of a tariff war.
The absence of Canadians has been felt acutely in the United States, especially in cities like Seattle close to the northern border. And Canadians aren’t the only international travelers skipping the US. Some other international travelers have also named recent policies around tariffs and immigration as reasons they’re staying away.
The World Travel and Tourism Council, a global tourism advocacy organization, projected in May that the United States will lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025, the only country out of 184 economies the council analyzed that will see a decline this year.
Rob Hawkins, from the United Kingdom, changed plans he and his wife had for a 20-day spring 2026 trip to the US to go to South Korea and Japan instead.
“America to me is rock ‘n roll, NASA, speed, jazz, horses, bourbon, hip hop, dance, MTV (the original), Hollywood, gold medals, innovation, strength, respectful (sic) and apple pie,” Hawkins told CNN in an email. “Not the army on the streets and the extreme division currently on show,” he said, referring to the National Guard presence in Los Angeles during immigration raids and in Washington D.C. to take federal control of the local police force.
“It’s unheard of,” said Didier Arino, general director of travel consulting firm Protourisme in France, about an unprecedented drop in interest for travel to the US.
“It’s happened before in a country at war, in a country where there was a security risk, or risk of health crisis, but in a normal situation, we’ve never seen this kind of turnaround,” Arino told CNN.
Beyond citing fears of being questioned at the border, or general opposition to the Trump administration’s policies, visitors from some countries are now facing an added upfront cost of $250 for a new “visa integrity fee.”
“While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign … This is about growth in the U.S. economy — it is doable, but it needs leadership from DC,” Simpson said.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/31/trave...ted-states
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
