In advance overseas visitation figures for March 2025 from the US Government’s International Trade Administration, visitation from the top 20 overseas markets for the US is down 10.3 per cent compared to March last year. These figures exclude visitation from Canada and Mexico. Of the top 20 countries, 13 have have decreased visitation to the USA.
Australian visitors to the US were down 7.1 per cent compared to the same month last year, while UK visitors were down 14.3 per cent, visitors from Germany were down 28.2 per cent and visitors from Spain were down 24.6 per cent. In fact, Western Europe as a whole recorded a 17.2 per cent drop in visitation.
In Asia, South Korean visitors were down 14.5 per cent, Indian visitors were down 3.6 per cent while travellers from Japan were up 3.6 per cent and visitors from Taiwan were up 11 per cent.
Chinese visitation was down only slightly, by 0.8 per cent.
The considerable drop in visitation comes after reports of a tougher stance on visitors at the US border.
Australia’s Smart Traveller website includes an update on the “strict” entrance requirements for the US and notes that “US authorities have broad powers to decide if you’re eligible to enter and may determine that you are inadmissible for any reason under US law”.
Elsewhere amongst the travel advice for the USA, Smart Traveller also includes a mention of the potential search of travellers’ “electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts” at the US border, noting that “if you refuse, they can deny your entry”.
