Visits to the United States by Chinese and international tourists were down at the beginning of this year compared to last year, prompting a warning from a travel data firm that it could cost the industry billions in lost revenue.

Tourism Economics, an industry monitoring group, revised its travel forecasts for visitors to the US in February from a predicted growth of 9 percent this year to a decline of 5.1 percent. If that is followed by a drop in demand for hotels by 0.8 percent, it could cause an $18 billion falloff in spending this year.

According to the National Travel and Tourism Office of the US Commerce Department, the number of overseas visitors to the US fell 2.4 percent in February compared with the corresponding time last year. Visits from China fell by 11 percent, African countries 9 percent, other parts of Asia 7 percent and Central America 6 percent.

Several issues, including potential tariffs on trade partners and changes at US borders and customs, appear to be of concern to international visitors. For some, the strong dollar has made it more expensive to visit the US. Other countries face long wait times for visas.

Last year, Canada was the biggest source of foreign visitors to the US, with more than 20.4 million visits, generating $20.5 billion in spending and supporting 140,000 US jobs.

However, tourism and spending associated with Canadian visitors could take a hit this year, according to the US Travel Association, a nonprofit representing the travel industry. It found that if there is just a 10 percent reduction in Canadian travel to the US, it could cost $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses.

Last month, the number of Canadians who drove back from a trip to the US fell by 23 percent. Air travel from the US was down by 13 percent compared with last year, The Washington Post reported.

The United Kingdom, a major source of visitors to the US (behind Canada and Mexico), issued a travel advisory to its citizens that a visa waiver will not guarantee entrance into the US. Germany and Canada have issued similar advice.

Last year, about 1.6 million visitors came to the US from China, an increase over 2023, but still significantly lower than the 2.83 million that visited in 2019.

High consumption

Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice-president of US Travel Association, told China Daily that before the pandemic, China was one of the "fastest-growing markets to the US, with Chinese visitors spending more on average than visitors from any other market".

In 2019, about 80 million tourists came to the US and spent about $235 billion. Nearly 3 million Chinese visitors spent $35 billion.

In 2023, the Chinese regained their title of being the biggest spenders while traveling internationally. They spent $196.5 billion on international travel, outpacing US citizens and Germans, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

On average, Chinese tourists traveling independently to the US and not as part of a group tour spent about $10,445 per trip in 2023, the National Travel and Tourism Office found.

The US will likely see the number of visitors picking up later this year, but spending by all tourists will probably not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2026, the US Travel Association predicts.

In May, the destination marketing organization Brand USA, the US Department of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China hosted the 14th US-China Tourism Leadership Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

At the event, Chris Thompson, the then president and CEO of Brand USA, said, "The return of Chinese visitors is critical for the US tourism industry and essential for the full recovery of our economy."

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com