don't worry. We'll make it up in tariffs. JK MINUS $12 BILLION...WHY ISN'T THE MEDIA REPORTING THIS??TRAVELGlobal tourism surges with double-digit growth while US visits flatlineBy Christopher Muther Globe Staff,Updated October 20, 2025, 8:03 a.m.164While Europe struggles with overtourism, the US faces undertourism, losing billions of dollars as tourists stay away.Craig Hudson/For the Washington Post ROME â The World Travel and Tourism Council was in full celebratory mode at its annual Global Summit earlier this month. It opened withfamed tenor Andrea Bocelli singing the Italian national anthem, followed by an address from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni focused on the importance of tourism to Italy.There was a good reason for all the pomp and circumstance.âTravel and tourism are booming,â said Gloria Guevara, president and CEO of the WTTC. âItâs booming everywhere.âEverywhere, but with one notable exception: the United States. Tourist spending here is projected to decline by more than $12 billion in 2025. So, while global tourism surges ahead with double-digit growth, the United States is flatlining. The number of inbound tourists has fallen nearly every month since President Trump wassworn into office in January. According to the WTTC, international visitor spending in the country is projected to decline by 7 percent in 2025, making it the only economy in the world to experience such a decrease.While leaders in Europe are grappling with overtourismat popular sites, tourism officials in the United States are scrambling to let the world know that the country is still open despite government shutdowns, political rhetoric,tariff wars, shootings, National Guard deployments, expensive visas, andimmigration crackdowns.AdvertisementRelatedAs Trudeau tells Canadians to rethink vacation plans, US travel industry could be headed for second âTrump slumpâSummer is here. The international tourists are not. Why the US is losing billions in visitor revenue.Visitors at a closed gate outside the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington.Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg Washington, D.C.âs tourism office launched a âD.C. is Openâ campaign this month, hoping to spread the word that, despite the government shutdown, many attractions are still running. Unfortunately, after the campaign was launched, the shutdown forced the closure of the Smithsonian museums. It comes after jarring images of the National Guard patrolling the city in fatigues with guns were seen around the world. Figures from summer tourism have yet to come in, but the city is expected to see a 5 percent dip in international tourism this year.âInternational travelers are coveted because they stay longer and spend four times as much as their domestic counterparts,â said Kyle Deckelbaum, a spokesman forDestination DC.Itâs not only government attractions that are getting hit by the shutdown.AdvertisementâThis shutdown is doing real, irreversible damage,â said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of theUS Travel Association. âTravelers are facing longer TSA lines and flight delays. Airports are reducing flights, and weâve seen entire control towers go dark. The longer this drags on, the worse the cascade of damage will be.âBoth United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian have expressed concern that a continued shutdown could adversely affect air travel.âPeople start to lose confidence in the government and the governmentâs ability to resolve this,â Kirby said on an earnings call on Thursday. âAnd thatâs going to start to impact bookings.âTourism Economics, which tracks data on domestic and international tourism, now projects that a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels will not happen until 2029 â three years later than originally projected.Thatâs a long way off for Matteo Gallo, an Uber driver in Las Vegas who was bemoaning the scarcity of tourists on a scorching August evening. He drives after his shift at a casino while his wife stays home to watch their newborn. The city has faced a double-digit drop in tourism this year.âThe calls just arenât coming in the way they were a few months ago,â Gallo said. âItâs been tough for everyone.âA tale of two tourism economiesStrong government support is helping to boost tourism overseas. Many European countries have appointed ministers of tourism and economically buttressed the industry. Theyâre using those funds to distribute tourists to multiple cities rather than overwhelm a single destination or attraction. The funds are also used to examine the sustainability and preservation of places that are economic drivers.AdvertisementThis stands in stark contrast to the United States, where Congress slashed the budget of Brand USA, the countryâs official tourism office, by $80 million, forcing the agency to lay off staff.Trump commented on the declining numbers in the Oval Office earlier this year, telling reporters that the drop in tourism âmay be a bit of nationalism, but itâs no big deal.âCanada, the biggest international market for U.S. tourism, has slumped the most. Spurred on by Trumpâs remarks suggesting Canada become the U.S.âs 51st state and threats of high tariffs, Canadians have continued to stay away. The latest figures from the National Travel and Tourism Office show that inbound tourism from Canada dropped 31 percent in July, the steepest decline so far this year.The shift has been painfully noticeable for Trisha PĂ©rez Kennealy, the owner of the Inn at Hastings Park in Lexington. Because the inn has just 22 rooms and is independently owned, Kennealy said she has had the opportunity to talk with guests over the years.Trisha PĂ©rez Kennealy, the owner of The Inn at Hastings Park, in the dining room of the inn.Inn at Hastings Park âSome of these guests took the time to email and say, âWe love your property, but we will not be coming to the United States,ââ she said. âWeâre also very lucky that weâve had long-term relationships with travel agents and travel professionals. Some of [them] were very direct with us. They told us, âWe love what youâve done for our clients, but our clients donât want to come to the U.S.ââShe added that international business travelers who are still coming to the United States are not adding additional days for leisure travel, which is hurting retailers and restaurants.AdvertisementAt the Charles Hotel, which attracts many families of international students because of its proximity to colleges, the number of guests from China has dropped by 30 percent.âPeople havenât been reaching out across the board to tell us why they arenât coming,â said Adam Sperling, general manager of the Charles Hotel. âIntuitively, it canât be an accident that tourism from China is down 30 percent, and meanwhile, the president has been threatening to raise tariffs.âThe slump is also hitting individuals who rent out their homes through Airbnb and VRBO. Alyssa Thompson, who rents out her familyâs beach house inOld Orchard Beach, said a string of cancellations from Canadian regulars cost her thousands this summer. She ended up renting out the house at reduced rates, and some weeks it simply sat empty.âIn the height of summer, Iâd walk around towns that were normally filled with tourists and jumping with activity, and they were a shadow of what they normally are,â she said.In Massachusetts, a study from Tourism Economics found that all of Bostonâs top international markets, with the exception of India and Brazil, are projected to be down for 2025. Visitation from Canada, which is Bostonâs biggest market, shows the largest decline.Massachusetts tourism officials have spent years fostering a close relationship with eastern Canada, but the current political climate has tarnished that relationship.âThereâs an allyship between the northeast US and eastern Canada,â said Dave OâDonnell, spokesman forMeet Boston. âWe have special connections, particularly with the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada, as it relates to culture, heritage, and the economy. But despite that, weâre in this moment. Canadians are saying ânoâ to the U.S., and itâs in the U.S. as a whole.âAdvertisementCanadian-based airlines have stopped promoting U.S. destinations, and Canadaâs three largest newspapers no longer feature travel stories about the United States. As Canadians are staying away, OâDonnell points out that Boston is also being hit domestically by Trumpâs attack on blue states.âItâs a double whammy,â he said. âNot only are we losing this significant volume of Canadian visitors, but weâre losing visitors because of the messaging from Washington. Whether youâre talking about our educational institutions like Harvard, whether youâre talking about our status as a sanctuary city, or whether youâre talking aboutour mayor, weâre being attacked.â And last week, the presidentsuggested he could take away the 2026 World Cup games from Boston.California, another blue state thatâs been under attack by Trump, has fared slightly better than other states in tourism spending.âWeâre like the winner at an ugly contest,â said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. âOur cultural proposition is a little bit different in California. So it is an easier rationale for people to say, âWell, weâre not going to the U.S., but weâll go to California.â While weâre still projecting year-over-year declines in the Canadian market. Itâs perhaps not as dramatic as what youâre seeing in the Northeast.âRight now, all hopes are pinned on 2026. The World Cup could lift the United States out of the international visitation doldrums. The arrival of the World Cup across multiple cities, including Boston, could bring soccer fans and their valuable dollars back to the country. Similarly, America250, a year-long celebration of the countryâs 250th birthday, is expected to raise awareness (and visitor numbers) in the country.AdvertisementBut there are fears that Trumpâs threat of removing World Cup matches from blue states, andrebranding America250 as a partisan celebration of himself, complete with a coin featuring his image, will continue to keep international visitors away.âThere are a few reasons why weâre not visiting the U.S. this year,â said Adam Gold, a professor of literature in Toronto who describes himself as a travel fanatic. âBut I think chief among them is your president.âChristopher Muther can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @Chris_Muther and Instagram @chris_muther. From: George Atwood <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 20, 2025 2:33 PM To: Robert Binney <[email protected]> Cc: Jack <[email protected]>; Dave Mulcahy <[email protected]>; allen smith <[email protected]>; Paul Davia <[email protected]>; Gretchen Robinson <[email protected]>; John Fahlgren <[email protected]>; Donna Parkinson <[email protected]>; Neal Henderson <[email protected]>; BRUCE SMITH <[email protected]>; laurie Langlais <[email protected]> Subject: Re: American Conversations: Maine Governor Janet Mills/ HCR I hear you, Bob.  What other skeletons may be in Platnerâs closet?  On the other handâŠâŠhavenât we thought and said some of those things?  He is brash and thatâs some of his appeal.  Iâll be watching and listening closely as we approach the primary.  It would be good, in my opinion, to have a senator younger than Mills. Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 20, 2025, at 1:01âŻPM, Robert Binney <[email protected]> wrote: ï»żI was behind him initially, but now reading more him: Beware The Unknown Earlier this week, I wrote a piece arguing that Maine Democrats were likely better off nominating Janet Mills, the stateâs 77-year-old, two-term incumbent governor, rather than upstart Graham Platner, to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in next yearâs midterm election. Yesterday, CNN proved my point: Graham Platner, a Marine veteran turned oyster farmer who is now a rising Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, once called himself a âcommunist,â dismissed âallâ police as bastards, and said rural White Americans âactually areâ racist and stupid, according to deleted social media posts reviewed by CNNâs KFile. ⊠In one deleted comment, in a threadabout a Black army lieutenant who was held at gunpoint and pepper-sprayed by police during a traffic stop, one Reddit user wrote, âBastards. Cops are bastards.â Platner replied, âAll of them, in fact.â Platner also frequently weighed in on police violence, arguing that misconduct was âa problem that extends deep into the profession as a wholeâ and rejecting claims of accidental shootings after incidents such as the killing of Minneapolis Black man Daunte Wright, writing, âF**k these cops.â ⊠In another since-removed post from2020, Platner responded to a thread titled âWhite people arenât as racist or stupid as Trump thinksâ by writing, âLiving in white rural America, Iâm afraid to tell you they actually are.â ⊠Platner repeatedly used the word âretardedâ to insult other Reddit users, including in one deleted comment that began, âI donât want to be excessively insulting here ⊠but are you retarded?â The quotes above will almost certainly become opposition research fodder by Collins and her SuperPAC. And this is precisely why, in a toss-up race that Democrats have a reasonable chance of winning, YOU DONâT TAKE A RISK WITH AN UNKNOWN CANDIDATE. Platner has never run for elected office, which means heâs unvetted, and no one knows what skeletons might be in his closet. That isnât the case with Mills, who entered public service in 1980 - before Platner was born. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 20, 2025, at 6:53âŻAM, George Atwood <[email protected]> wrote: ï»żI was impressed, as well.  I have thrown in my lot (for the moment, at least) for Graham Platner for Senate, but anxious to see how things progress.  I hope HCR will interview Platner and other candidates in the near future. On Oct 19, 2025, at 9:01âŻPM, Robert Binney <[email protected]> wrote: Geo, just watched the Heather/Janet interview.  Sheâs impressive with amazing credentials and she (and her team) have quite a track record for the State! Sent from my iPhone On Oct 19, 2025, at 1:27âŻPM, George Atwood <[email protected]> wrote: ï»ż Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Joy Olsen <[email protected]> Date: October 19, 2025 at 11:52:40âŻAM EDT To: George Atwood <[email protected]> Subject: American Conversations: Maine Governor Janet Mills ï»żhttps://youtu.be/XM-eO79906U?si=t67jy4mIy7ATTSEm Sent from my iPad
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