MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The United States is preparing to host one of the world's biggest sporting events. The FIFA men's World Cup will play out in 11 U.S. cities, along with five cities in Mexico and Canada. Experts say it may attract tourists who recently have chosen not to come to the United States. Erik Hansen is with the U.S. Travel Association.
ERIK HANSEN: We're forecasting a 3% increase in international visitation to the United States, and a big driver behind that are the global events that we're hosting here. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest sporting event in human history.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A tourism increase would be a change from last year. The 3% increase would follow a 6% decline in foreign visitors in 2025.
MARTIN: Some news headlines called it the Trump slump, blaming Trump administration policies and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Hansen sees a little more to it.
HANSEN: We actually saw international travel to the U.S. start to decline in the Biden administration, and so this is the trend line that is not unique to the Trump administration - it's continued across both - but this is the administration where we hope it ends.
INSKEEP: That said, the biggest recent downturn has been among Canadian visitors amid President Trump's trade war with Canada.
MARTIN: That downturn is estimated to have cost the tourism industry billions and thousands of jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector.
HANSEN: One of the largest exports that the United States has is foreign visitors coming here and purchasing American products, goods and services.
INSKEEP: Gloria Guevara is CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council.
GLORIA GUEVARA: Currently, the U.S. is not getting their fair share. We have other countries growing faster, like for instance, we see that China is growing faster than the U.S. And if they continue with this trend, at some point, it might bypass the U.S. as the largest travel and tourism economy in the world.
MARTIN: She says the Trump administration should not take tourism for granted.
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