As reported by the NY Times, New York City will see tourism decline this year as there will be 400,000 fewer tourists than in 2024, a drop mainly due to the negative sentiment against Americans generated by some policies promoted by the Trump administration.
The city’s tourism agency, New York City Tourism and Conventions, has seen its initial forecast of 67.6 million visitors, domestic and international, go down twice since the president declared a trade war on other countries around the world, expressed a determination to annex more states to the U.S. and stepped up efforts to crack down on immigration.
The latest forecast estimates that New York will welcome 64.1 million tourists in 2025. This figure includes 400,000 more domestic travelers than last year, but 800,000 fewer foreign travelers. According to an analysis of passenger admissions data conducted by the New York Times, about 117,000 fewer foreigners arrived at JFK Airport and Newark-Liberty Airport this year than in the same period in 2024.
The decline has been caused by a drop in tourists from Canada, who have boycotted travel to the United States because of continued threats from Trump, who is eager to make the country the 51st U.S. state.
Although many more domestic travelers will visit New York than international travelers, the latter tend to stay longer and spend more. Last year, tourists spent $51 billion in the city. About half of this amount came from the pockets of non-American travelers. This year’s revenue is expected to decline by as much as $4 billion.
Tourism is a key pillar of New York’s economy, helping to support numerous sectors, including Broadway, museums and dining, employing more than 260,000 people.
At present, occupancy rates at city hotels have remained relatively stable, but bookings for the upcoming summer months have not kept pace with last year’s.
John Fitzpatrick, owner of two hotels in Manhattan, said bookings are down about 5 percent compared to 2024. Speaking of European tourists, Fitzpatrick said that they are not only opposed to the duties, but are also afraid that they could be detained by immigration authorities in the United States.
Some tourist attractions in New York have also begun to report a decline in visitors. The manager of the Empire State Building Observatory, for example, said that visits for the first 3 months of 2025 were down 4.6 percent from the same period last year.
TopView Sightseeing, a company that operates a fleet of double-decker buses in Manhattan, also reported a 20-25 percent drop in customers. “There is no question that the tariffs are causing some sort of anti-American sentiment,” said Asen Kostadinov, owner of the company, “I am an immigrant and I love America, but at the end of the day, we don’t want to make enemies for no reason.”
