The Collapse of U.S. Tourism (and Why Americans Are Fleeing)

The Collapse of U.S. Tourism (and Why Americans Are Fleeing)

As someone who has been traveling internationally since I was 16 years old, it’s been very surreal to see headlines recently about travel warnings and advisories for tourists who are coming to the United States. I can remember when I first went abroad in high school and I was headed for a senior class trip to Mexico and my friends and I were all checking to see if Mexico was dangerous. We’re checking the State Department travel advisories. My parents were warning me not to travel there. And this has been a continuous pattern throughout my life, especially as a female solo traveler in many cases that people warn me against traveling to other countries. And I always had the perspective of, you know, is it really that much more dangerous than living in the United States, which is a place that I was always warned growing up in the ‘9s, especially, you know, seeing missing children on milk bottles and being warned that I could be abducted in a Walmart parking lot. I mean, I had that fear growing up. And so, I took my chances as a traveler. And I did find that many of the countries that I thought were dangerous uh actually weren’t that way or maybe that uh danger and violence would be more isolated to certain areas and situations rather than very widespread. And so, you know, 20 years on, it’s been quite surreal to see all of the travel warnings and advisories for people coming to the US, which is a place that I grew up and lived until I was in my late teens, early 20s. There’s been a lot happening within the US government right now and it’s kind of hard to follow all of the different things that are occurring. Uh, but from what I can tell, there are a few different reasons for why countries are warning their citizens not to travel to the United States. And it seems like the headline from the news stories is a bit different from the comments by the actual citizens of these countries who are going there. So, I’ll try to share both sides of the story with you. So, one CNN story put most of the blame on tariffs that the Trump administration has enacted against various countries. And so from reading the comments on various YouTube videos, it looks like a lot of Canadians aren’t just angry about the tariffs, but they also resent the suggestion that Canada could become the 51st state of the US and also are now scared due to some of the stories that have come from the border of people being detained without explanation. So that has been pretty scary for them. A lot of people commenting here. A British person saying that he’s not going on his trip because he doesn’t think he can afford the cost of food and groceries here. There’s reports that Canadian airlines have canceled their flights to some US destinations. And people in Australia saying that the tourism providers there are offering 40% discounts on travel to the US to try to increase demand. So, the numbers already this month look like doubledigit declines in travelers to the US from various countries. Up to 23 to 30% fewer travelers coming across the border from Canada, although the numbers might be higher than that. Uh 23% fewer travelers from Mexico. Nearly 20% fewer tourists coming over from Europe. And really, the list goes on. There’s a lot of numbers being thrown around as well as to what the economic impact on the United States could be with some figures reaching $60 billion. It’s gotten so bad that people like Gavin Newsome, the governor of California, actually coming out doing press conferences begging tourists to come to his state. I don’t know if that’s ever something that I’ve seen before. And what a lot of people are afraid of is that this could just be the tip of the iceberg because a lot of the the travel that was cancelled in the first quarter of 2025 was booked back in 2024 because you know you want to book ahead, get lower airfares, make sure to secure your accommodations. And so it is possible that these numbers continue to plummet, especially through summer travel as people don’t just cancel the trips that they’ve already booked, but they’re deciding to book to alternative destinations and spend their tourism dollars elsewhere. Countries who have officially issued travel warnings and advisories to the US include Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, and the UK. On top of that, it’s not just tourism which is down in coming to the US, but it’s also Americans who increasing numbers are wanting to leave the United States. Now, this is a trend that’s been going on at least since the 1970s, but it is accelerating in recent years. And a new study came out that says as many as 42% of US citizens have thought about moving abroad or would like to move and are already planning their move. So that is pretty crazy numbers. I mean almost half of the US population has been considering some type of move out of the US. And really the reasons run the gamut. We have people who want to move for cost of living reasons. people who believe that there are better work opportunities abroad, people who are looking to pay less taxes, and a lot of people who say that they are increasingly feeling like they’re stuck in survival mode and that the American dream is slipping farther and farther away. We’ve got 68% of Americans who say that these days they feel like they’re surviving instead of thriving. and that same number of people who say that homeownership is no longer attainable for them. So I think the incoming tourism numbers being down is one problem because that’s directly impacting US citizens. On the flip side, we have the loss of general economic growth and uh tax revenue that is lost from Americans who end up leaving the United States, whether they renounce their citizenship or they live abroad and uh benefit from income tax credits. It’s kind of a two-sided coin here, and I don’t know how this is all going to end. About four in ten Americans have either considered moving abroad or are planning to do so and believe that as a result they will achieve greater happiness. I know that’s definitely the case with our clients as we’ve seen a growing number of people reach out to me and my relocation company. I’ve been helping people move abroad since 2005 and never have I seen quite the quantity of people reaching out to get help with this. So I can say anecdotally in you know 20 years of doing this that this is the the most serious the most urgent and the most short term that we’ve seen people make these decisions to move abroad. But for others it’s been something that has been a long time coming. They’ve been thinking about doing it for 20 years or 8 years or the past few years and they’ve just accelerated that plan. So, if you would like to get help from my team and I on your international relocation, then you can apply at the link below or at travelingwithchristen.com/relocation and we would be happy to talk with you. Even if you’re thinking of planning 3, four, 5 years in the future, there might be something that we can still do to help you now. So, don’t hesitate to reach out. Now, most of the people that I work with are either professionals or have families or they’re planning to retire abroad. But what’s interesting about this study is that it says more Gen Z and millennials are also wanting to move abroad potentially to get jobs abroad to study abroad. It says here that up to 63% of Gen Z is considering moving compared with 26% of boomers and I work primarily with boomers and Gen Xers. It says 35% of Gen Xers are thinking of moving abroad and more than half of millennials are moving abroad. I’m a millennial myself and I’ve lived abroad quite a few times. The top three reasons that people want to move abroad right now include finding a lower cost of living, dissatisfaction with the current political leadership, and the desire for a higher and better quality of life. and you know can’t really blame people for wanting to save money and live better and have less uh drama when it comes to the political situation although we’re fewer and fewer countries are immune to that these days. Uh it also says that u uh many minority groups are increasingly fearing for their rights including the LGBTQIA community, women, uh African-Americans, people of color, and people want to go everywhere. So the top 10 countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Germany, and New Zealand. And then ironically, Canada is at the top of the list when it comes to boycotting US goods and travel. So here we have a bit of a reverse migration coming here where Canadians don’t want to visit the US for holiday and Americans want to move to Canada. Canada is not the easiest country to migrate to unless you are going there with a work permit. But the other countries offer some different opportunities. The UK and New Zealand are also pretty tight when it comes to just moving abroad for quality of life and cost of living. These aren’t uh typically valid reasons to be able to get a visa in another country. So, it really depends on where you’re going, if you’re going to retire, if you’re going to work, and then assessing what are the actual options on paper that will allow you to move there. Another concern that I myself have and also a lot of my clients, YouTube subscribers, people contacting me is what will the effects be on the US passport? Will this uh change of tourists coming into the US also have an effect on US tourists who want to travel elsewhere? And for a long time, I thought we wouldn’t see any changes here because the US economy is so strong and American travelers make up a large part of the tourists around the world. But now I’m not so sure if countries are coming forward to issue warnings against traveling to the US. Maybe they will start, you know, filtering US tourists more when we go there. And so that’s definitely a concern of mine. And if you’d like to know about my plan B, which is in progress to get a European passport, then watch this video

Millions of tourists are avoiding the United States — and now a record number of Americans are thinking about leaving too. In this video, I break down why U.S. tourism is collapsing, why 42% of citizens might be fleeing, and what it means for the future of America. Get help moving abroad: https://travelingwithkristin.com/relocation

Order your copy of the Moving Abroad For Dummies book: https://amzn.to/4eTs9T2

Watch next: 👀
Why People Are Leaving the USA: https://youtu.be/oxyfkqSeiNo
How I See the US After Living in Europe: https://youtu.be/vk-5bg-woWI
How I See the US After Living Abroad for 15 Years: https://youtu.be/DO5x_tJBn7w
My Plan B – EU Citizenship Journey: https://youtu.be/EoCxIeRAjWo
Why I Stayed in the US This Year: https://youtu.be/Zj3wFMzTkj4

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
1:37 Why Tourists Are Boycotting the U.S.
3:07 Numbers and Negative Impacts
4:43 Why Americans Want to Move Abroad
7:41 Gen X, Gen Z, Millennials, Baby Boomers
9:38 How To Get a Visa
10:11 U.S. Passport At Risk?

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👱🏻‍♀️ About: Kristin Wilson is the author of Moving Abroad For Dummies. She’s the creator and host of the top-rated Traveling with Kristin Podcast and YouTube channel. She’s traveled to more than 60 countries and has been helping people move overseas since 2005.

❤️ Subscribe for more videos about moving abroad, retiring overseas, and life outside the U.S.: https://www.youtube.com/travelingwithkristin

📸 Follow on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TWKinstagram

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PS: This video is for entertainment purposes only and is not consulting or advice. Video descriptions may contain affiliate or refer-a-friend links for products I use and recommend. Thanks for supporting the channel!

American Expats Survey: https://theharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Americans-Expats-Feb-2025.pdf

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#america #movingabroad #livingabroad #leavingusa