Some California officials project that Trump's tariffs will negatively impact tourism

At California’s port of entries, the Golden State is welcoming fewer international visitors compared to last year. Visit California claims tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration are contributing to the decrease in tourism.

Visit California, an organization representing the California tourism industry, projected in May that international visitation to the state will decline by 9.2% in 2025 because of the “impact of higher tariffs on the global economy and negative sentiment toward the U.S. due to the administration’s trade policies.”

Visit California’s most recent report on international arrivals stated California had 541,113 international tourists come through its port of entries in June, an 8.6% decrease compared to June of last year. The report also said the state experienced a decline in international visits in the months of February, March, May and June of this year compared to those months last year.

John Myers, senior vice president, communications and external affairs of CalChamber, referenced Visit California and told The Center Square that tariffs and federal economic policies are placing a financial burden on the state because lower tourist counts means less tourist spending.

Last year, international visitors spent $26.2 billion in California, a 16.4% increase compared to 2023, according to Visit California. The estimated drop in international visits is believed to cause international spending to decline 4.3% in 2025.

Alan Gin, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of San Diego, told The Center Square Monday he is worried about the projected tourist counts because if the tourism industry takes a hit, business and the entire economy would be impacted.

“You would see more vacancies in hotels, you would see less spending in restaurants, you would see attendance at some of the attractions going down like at SeaWorld or the San Diego Zoo,” Gin said. “Then depending on how severe that is, those businesses may have to lay off people. So you may see a decline in employment in those sectors. Then that could eventually impact the rest of the economy as people will have less money to spend.”

Visit California said the threats to international visits are concerning however, 80% of travel spending in California is made from domestic visitors.

Visit California is encouraging Californians to choose in-state travel in 2025 to “help sustain local businesses, drive regional economic growth and contribute to preserving the state’s competitive edge.”