With summer on the horizon, the presence of sunlight beaming through the sky gives way to the opportunity for UW Bothell students to travel, during their pursuit of higher education. National Travel and Tourism Week takes place from May 3 to May 9 and was created by the U.S. Travel Association. The week serves to highlight the economic importance of traveling. The theme of the week for 2026, “Postmarked: Essential,” talks about how travel is an essential part of the U.S. economy as travel makes up 2.4% of the national GDP. In this, the U.S. Travel Association works to showcase the importance of travel.
The U.S. Travel Association is a non-profit organization seeking to increase travel to the United States. As revealed by the impact on the economy, the travel industry seeks to influence the national government to spur an increase in travel. To achieve this goal, National Travel and Tourism Week was established by a congressional resolution in 1983, in which the U.S. Travel Association selects the theme for the week. In influencing the U.S. government, the U.S. Travel Association Political Action Committee (TravelPAC) makes contributions and expenditures to build relationships and support the election of pro-travel candidates through funding their political campaigns. As a result, travel has become synonymous with the summer breeze, especially for Americans traveling.
Many Americans utilize summer as an opportunity to travel. During the summer of 2024, it was reported that the Transportation Security Administration counted a total of about three million people passing through security checkpoints within a single day, the highest it has ever been. Looking ahead, the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, will have games in United States in cities like Seattle, and will certainly increase this number this summer. According to Oxford Economics, it forecasts a surge of 1.24 million international visitors for the World Cup in the U.S. In comparison, the Seattle Seahawks parade packed nearly a million people in the streets of Seattle, per Reuters. In a boost of incoming people, tourism has a flourishing impact on the economy.
The impact of tourism stimulates economic growth in communities from tourists spending. For instance, referring to the Seattle Seahawks parade, the Downtown Seattle Association reported a $17 million generated for Seattle businesses from paradegoers spending on dining as well as clothes and accessories. Given the significant economic boost tourism brings, it gives the responsibility for the government to support this economy stream.
While travel plays a huge role in the U.S. economy, recent political events such as immigration policies and inflammatory rhetoric from the Trump Administration has damaged tourism to the U.S because of perceived risks. President Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social, displaying dehumanizing language aimed at immigration from “Third World Countries,” referring to them as “non-compatible with Western Civilization.” This rhetoric spills over into policy decisions to ramp up the amount of detainment. As reported by The Guardian, a UK tourist with a valid visa was detained by ICE for six weeks despite holding no criminal record, in part due to the Trump Administration incentivizing ICE agents to reach a total number of arrests to 1,200 to 1,500 a day, even at the cost of wrongful detainment. Ironically, this targeted people from Western countries Trump sought to allow. These steps to curb immigration from the Trump Administration, creates uncertainty if the Trump Administration will consider making it more difficult for tourism.
In addition, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs across its allies, damages the reputation of the United States, making it less appealing to visit the country. President Donald Trump’s trade war ushered a barrage of tariffs toward Canada, which led to a 17% decrease in visits from Canadians, per Politico. Moreover, early this year, multiple European countries have issued government advisories regarding travel to the United States in response to ICE protests in Minneapolis, with Ireland on its travel guidance advising that its citizens should “exercise caution in the Minneapolis-St Paul area.” Amidst geopolitical tensions, these political decisions give the impression that the United States is not a country worth respecting, overall decreasing the amount of tourism to the United States.
With the onslaught of tariffs and mass deportations measures, the United States is entering into a “Tourism Slump,” with a significant decrease in visitors. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council report, it projected in 2025 that the U.S. is on track to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending. Even with the 2026 World Cup coming up, the expected tourism boom may not compensate for the recent decline in visitors. According to BBC, most hoteliers responded that their bookings for the World Cup fell well below expectations in almost every host city. The United States is entering a period for a lack of enthusiasm toward the country.
Given the Trump Administration’s indifference to give notice to the downturn of tourism to the country, it does not help that the Administration chose a pitiful candidate to represent the nation’s domestic travel. The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump picked Nick Adams, a self-described “alpha male,” to be the new diplomatic envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism and values in consideration of the upcoming nation’s 250th anniversary of independence. Mr. Adams has written a book called “Alpha Kings” that seeks to make the case for what it means to be an “alpha male in today’s hyper-feminized world,” claiming it rivals other written works like Donald Trump’s own book, “The Art of the Deal” and the Bible. This background context behind on Mr. Adam’s extreme loyalty to Donald Trump, makes him susceptible to ignore the issues plaguing the decline of international visitors from the Trump Administration. While understanding how to recover from the tourism decline does not require reading his literature, surrounding yourself with the knowledge of world affairs provides the essential value to seeing how the travel and tourism industry is vital to the United States.
Travel and tourism in the United States relies on policymakers to acknowledge the negative perception of the United States from the rest of the world because it demonstrates something has gone astray. The optimal tourist attraction is one where a tourist feels free away from dangers and enjoys the luxury of exploring a different part of the world.
Leave a Reply