Why some travellers are rethinking trips to the US

This was supposed to be a big year for US tourism. But long wait times at airports and rising anti-American sentiment are causing some travellers to reconsider their plans.

Travellers at US airports around the country recently experienced wait times up to four hours, the longest in the 24-year history of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The culprit was a partial government shutdown, which is now entering its seventh week and is the longest in US history.

The shutdown left TSA screeners working without pay for more than a month, prompting thousands to call out of work and more than 500 officers to quit. While a presidential directive signed on 30 March restored TSA workers' pay and aims to cut airport wait times significantly, the headlines and photos of long queues are the latest in a string of headwinds facing US travel and tourism.  

This global travel disruption couldn't have come at a worse time for the US. The country is co-hosting the Fifa World Cup this summer, celebrating the centenary of Route 66 and marking its 250th year of independence in 2026. In a normal year, any one of those milestones would give the American travel industry reason to celebrate. Instead, the nation is contending with a mix of bad perception and unpopular policy that saw its 2025 tourism decline by 5.4%, even as the rest of the world grew its international tourism by 4%, according to the World Tourism Barometer. Canadian visitation to the US dropped by 22% in 2025 compared to 2024, the steepest decline of any market.

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The continued presence of ICE agents in US airports may not be helping the US's image issues either. Originally deployed to assist with TSA shortages, the US Transportation Secretary said the agents will remain "as long as needed". Since ICE agents aren't trained for aviation security, some travellers are wary.

Sandra Awodele, who was born in Nigeria but is a naturalised US citizen, said she has been on increased alert with the new ICE presence.

"With ICE detaining people who may or may not be citizens and apologising later if they're wrong, it has made me change my travel plans a few times if the airport I am arriving [at] has heavy ICE presence," she said. "I have never had an issue, but now I fear I might because of procedures and protocols I may not be aware of. That is scary."

The deployment of ICE agents at airports is just one of a series of rapidly shifting policies confusing some international travellers. A Trump administration proposal floated in December 2025 would require visitors from 42 visa-free countries (including the UK and most of Europe) to provide five years' worth of social media history in order to enter the country. The proposal has not yet been implemented, but some travellers believe it already has.

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"The law hasn't changed, but the temperature has," said Evan Oshan, a civil rights lawyer and managing partner at Oshan & Associates. "When federal officers feel empowered to push every boundary of their existing authority, that is a policy change – it just doesn't require an act of Congress."

A combination of anti-American sentiment caused by some of President Trump's policies, along with long waits that some travellers are still experiencing at many US airports, has caused some travellers to weigh whether now is the time to visit the US. Johan Konst, who runs a public relations firm in Amsterdam, typically flies to the US three or four times a year for conferences and meetings. He says he is still planning to go, but he is more selective about when.

"The current situation seems to treat Europe more as an opponent than an ally, whether it's the tariffs, the NATO rhetoric or the broader tone towards European countries," he said. "That shift in dynamic is what makes you feel less welcome, even if no individual American has ever made me feel that way in person."

Konst said the feeling alone has been enough to change his habits. "I now find myself weighing which trips are truly necessary and which aren't," he said. "I'm more selective than before, since I can also work remote." He added that flights from Amsterdam to the US have been noticeably emptier in recent months. "I have had an empty row to myself multiple times in a row."

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Anita Shreider, who lives in Germany and is the chief marketing officer at rental platform Bikes Booking, is also still planning a US trip this year, combining business meetings with sightseeing in Chicago and a trip to see the giant sequoias along the West Coast. Still, she said she understands why some travellers are pulling back.

"I have acquaintances who decided to call off their summer trips to the US because they disagree with the country's actions on the global stage," she said. For those who cancelled, "it wasn't really about specific policy changes, it was more a general unease. They just didn't feel comfortable travelling to the US right now."

More like this:

• Why some travellers are avoiding the US

• How US politics is affecting international travel

• Partial government shutdown becomes the longest in US history

Some US-based tour operators say that once international visitors arrive, they report being surprised at what they find. "People are arriving expecting friction, but instead of craziness, [they] find a system, while far from perfect, [that] is very navigable," said Paul Whitten, Founder and Historian at Nashville Adventures. "Do your paperwork early, and build a buffer time to travel. The difference between a stressful trip and a great one usually comes down to how prepared you are, not the policies itself."

Oshan agrees, and recommends international travellers carry documentation showing their purpose of travel, and that they know their rights before they board. "While CBP (US Customs and Border Patrol) has broad authority at the border, you retain constitutional protections once on US soil," he said. "Those rights are worth asserting and, when violated, worth litigating."

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Erik Hansen, head of government relations for the US Travel Association (the lobby group for America's travel industry), said that the nation's travel industry recognises it needs to close the gap between what travellers fear and what they will actually experience on the ground. Yet, he also noted that many airports have rolled out expedited customs processes that have shortened queues for international arrivals, while some have implemented a shoes-on security process to keep lines moving quickly.

Whitten agrees. "Policies adjust, but they are often not indicators of massive cultural change, at least not sweeping changes that will affect the average traveller's experience day to day," he said. "Ultimately, at the end of the day, the US is still one of the most accessible and welcoming destinations in the world."

For now, the gap between official reassurance and traveller unease remains unresolved. TSA officials have warned that it takes four to six months to train new officers, meaning the World Cup could arrive before staffing fully recovers. The government shutdown has no resolution in sight, and the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran that is fuelling anxieties and pushing up flight costs shows no sign of easing.

For Konst, the pull of the US remains strong, even as the signals around it grow more complicated. "I still love the US and the American people," he said. "It's just the [policies] that makes me reconsider flying there as much as I used to."

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