New York City is expected to welcome 400,000 fewer tourists this year than in 2024, a decrease mainly driven by a negative sentiment against the United States under Foreign travelers who have reconsider their vacations.
The tourist agency of the city, New York City Tourism and Conventions, had started 2025 with optimism after the Coronavirus Pandemie had disrupted travel five years ago and this year had projected a complete recovery with a record number of visitors.
But the agency has now recovered its initial prediction of 67.6 million visitors – internationally and domestic – because President Trump declared a trade war to allies, mused about the annexation of other countries and an immigration gesture extraction has argued that has resulted in The arrests of various foreign tourists.
The last prediction, which will be released on Thursday, now estimates that 64.1 million tourists will visit the city. That includes 400,000 more domestic travelers than last year, but 800,000 fewer foreign travelers.
The new prediction sees 12.1 million international travelers, a decrease of 17 percent compared to earlier 2025 projections. The decline is led by one Drop-off in tourists from CanadaThose trips to the United States have boycot about Mr Trump’s threat to turn their country into the 51st US state.
International trips to the United States from other parts of the world largely stopped So far, but New York City relies on Canadian tourists. Travel analysts fear that constant economic uncertainty could increase travel plans of the rest of the world.
Although many more domestic travelers visit New York City than international, overseas visitors continue to tend to stay longer and to spend more. Last year, tourists spent $ 51 billion in New York City – by about half by foreign travelers. This year it is now expected to fall by $ 4 billion.
Julie Coker, the head of tourism and conventions of New York City, said that her agency was on the market abroad under a campaign entitled “With Love + Liberty, New York City.”
The agency, a non -profit organization that is partially funded by the city, wants travelers to know, she said: “That New York City is still the most hospitable, inclusive and diverse city in the world.”
Tourism is an essential pillar of the New York City economy. The industry helps to support countless sectors – including Broadway, museums and restaurants – and has more than 260,000 people.
So far this year, around 117,000 fewer foreign passengers have arrived at Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport compared to the same period in 2024, according to an analysis of data from the passenger entry of the New York Times.
The occupancy rate of the Hotel in New York City remained relatively flat this year, but bookings for the coming summer months, a peak travel season in the city, did not keep pace last year, according to Costar, a real estate analysis company.
John Fitzpatrick, who owns two hotels in Manhattan, said that at the end of 2024 he had felt extremely positive about tourism in the city, with bookings in his properties with the strongest few months since the pandemic.
But now, he said, his bookings fell by around 5 percent compared to last year. His hotels missed their prediction in April, the bookings for May are under the projections and reservations in the coming months are not as robust as expected.
“Just when we are back on their feet, we are kicked down again,” said Mr. Fitzpatrick. “It’s disturbing.”
In conversations with Europeans during recent trips to Ireland, where he also owns a hotel, Mr. Fitzpatrick said that he had heard that they are not only upset about the rates, but also be afraid that they can be held by the immigration authorities in the United States.
The conversation was from the more aggressive tactics by American border authorities at the penetration, Including the detention of two German tourists For four weeks, he said.
“You want to go where you feel welcome,” said Mr. Fitzpatrick.
Some tourist places in New York City have started reporting a purchase of customers. The operator of the Empire State Building Observatory said that it saw a decrease of 4.6 percent in the first three months of the year compared to last year, adjusting the shift in the Easter holidays this year. About 50 percent of visitors come from abroad.
TopView Sightseeing, who operates a fleet of double -decker buses in Manhattan, has seen a decrease of 20 to 25 percent in customers. The owner of the company, Asen Kostadinov, said that the drop -off started about a year ago and deteriorated in 2025, with a noticeable decline of foreign travelers.
Mr Kostadinov said that travelers seem to be more budget -conscious and increasingly book cheaper packages with his company. He has also seen an increase in business at his bicycle rental company near Central Park and his Statue of Liberty Cruise Tours, both of which charge less than bus trips. For comparison: things at his sightseeing bus company in London have increased this year, he said.
As a result of slower cases in New York City and the economic uncertainty, Mr Kostadinov said that he has released some business employees, cut bus drivers and postponed planned investments, including a new bus depot.
“There is no doubt that the rates cause a kind of anti-American sentiment,” said Mr Kostadinov. “I am an immigrant and I love America, but at the end of the day we don’t want to make enemies for no reason.”
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