3 months back, in September 2025, key markets such as Canada, Germany, and the UK, besides Japan, together played pivotal roles in the overall decline of international visitor arrivals to the U.S. This occurred while global tourism recovery faced ongoing challenges. Whilst these countries contributed to the downturn in inbound travel, outbound travel from the U.S. flourished, with Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean emerging as top destinations for American travellers. This stark contrast in values probably highlights a growing imbalance as U.S. arrivals remain below pre-pandemic levels. Americans seem to be increasingly exploring international destinations. The most recent travel data, shared by the National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO), reflects such shifting dynamics. These dynamics show U.S. citizens tend to continue to sustain enthusiasm for overseas travel, despite struggles reflected in inbound foreign tourism to the U.S.
According to the report, the quantum of non-U.S. resident arrivals decreased 11% year-over-year to 5,477,289, which reflected a sustained gap from pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, outbound travel from the U.S. reflected a modest increase of 0.5%, amounting to a quantum of 8,546,659 departures recorded. This imbalance reflects that inbound tourism may still be struggling to recover fully from the pandemic’s downfall, although it is compensated with stronger outbound travel. Also that U.S. citizens are showing a trend of being increasingly eager to explore international destinations.
When comparing September 2025 figures with corresponding figures 6 years back in 2019, arrivals stood at 81.7% of the level witnessed in September 2019. Meantime, outbound departures exceeded pre-pandemic quantums, reaching 112.6% of the corresponding 2019 volume.
International arrivals to the U.S. showed a 7.7% decline year-on-year, totalling 2,826,200 visitors. The largest contribution of international visitors originated from neighbouring Mexico (1,505,562), with Canada closely following (1,145,527) in second place. The United Kingdom (373,675) came in third, with Japan (194,092) and Germany (162,435) moving with less significant figures. Together, these five markets accounted for 60% of total arrivals.
