US lost business travelers in April as economic anxiety and border detentions cooled demand

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

Business travel to the U.S. fell 9% in April as companies and workers grappled with economic uncertainty and anger over the Trump administration’s tariffs and border policies.

The National Travel and Tourism Office released preliminary figures Thursday showing the number of airline and ship passengers who entered the country last month using business visas.

The Middle East was the only region that saw higher business travel to the U.S., with arrivals up 9.4% compared to April 2024. But that didn’t make up for big losses from other regions; the number of business travelers from Western Europe fell 17.7%, for example.

The new government data didn’t include people coming from Canada for business or who traveled by land from Mexico. Mexican arrivals by air for those holding business visas were down 11.8%, the government said.

And overall travel from Canada also fell in April. According to Statistics Canada, Canadian residents’ return trips by air from the U.S. fell 20% in April, while return trips by car were down 35%.

Business travel to the U.S. held up better than leisure travel in the first quarter of the year. According to U.S. government data, more than 1.2 million travelers entered the U.S. using business visas in the January-March period, up 7% from the year before. The number of travelers using tourist visas fell 6%.

But that flipped in April, as the late Easter holiday likely encouraged more leisure travel. Travel to the U.S. by international travelers holding tourist visas was up 13.8% in April.

It’s unclear if that trend will hold. Cirium, an aviation analytics company, said an analysis of online travel agency data indicated that advance bookings from Europe to 14 U.S. cities in June, July and August were down 12% from those same months last year.

Multiple U.S. airlines have pulled their financial forecasts for the year, citing uncertainty and weaker demand from lower-fare leisure travelers. Many industry experts think business travel to the U.S. will continue to decline in the coming months.

Leslie Andrews, the global travel leader for real estate company JLL and a board member at the Global Business Travel Association Foundation, said she thinks corporate travel to the U.S. will slow in the second and third quarters of the year as the full impact of economic and geopolitical volatility sets in.

“What I am hearing is, ‘Things were good in the first quarter,’ but in the second quarter it’s a matter of, ‘Must you take that trip?’” Andrews said. “They’re pulling in the reins a bit to make sure only purposeful travel is happening as things grow and evolve.”

BT4Europe, a business travel association, said companies are increasingly wary about unpredictable procedures to enter the U.S. and the risk of detention, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals or those who have voiced political opinions on social media.

Kevin Haggarty usually travels to the United States from Canada several times a year to attend trade shows in Atlanta or Las Vegas or to visit suppliers in Los Angeles. But his concerns about crossing the border will keep him from making those trips this year.

Haggarty, who owns a company that sells gifts and souvenirs, said Canadian retailers no longer want U.S.-made merchandise. His U.S. suppliers are struggling to stay afloat due to U.S. tariffs on products made in China. Above all, he’s concerned about reports of international travelers being detained at the U.S. border.

“Honestly, my nervousness and reluctance to cross into the U.S. stems from that more than any hostility to the American market,” said Haggarty, who lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Global Business Travel Association CEO Suzanne Neufang said a poll of more than 900 of the association’s members last month showed nearly one-third expected a decline in global travel volumes this year.

Canadian members were the most pessimistic, with 71% saying they expect a decrease in travel this year, Neufang said.

“The uncertainty is unnerving for a business travel sector that likes to be safe and likes to be efficient,” she said.

A drop-off in business trips would represent a setback for the U.S. travel industry and cities that host international conventions and trade shows. The $1.6 trillion global business travel sector was finally returning to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. business travel spending reached pre-COVID levels in 2023, Neufang said, while the rest of the world achieved that last year.

Brett Sterenson, the president of Hotel Lobbyists, a Washington firm that helps groups book hotels for meetings and conferences, said he was losing international business as some countries warn travelers not to visit the U.S.

U.S. government cuts are also hurting business, Sterenson said. He works with several groups that offer international exchange programs through the State Department. The programs welcome travelers from Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and elsewhere and share best practices on things like energy policy and environmental stewardship, he said. But with funding cuts, that part of his business is down 75%.

“These exchanges were monumentally useful in spreading goodwill, but also in educating developing nations on good governance,” Sterenson said.

Haggarty, in Canada, said he canceled a trip to a trade show in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and said several retailers he works with also pulled out. He’s now looking to England, France, Spain and other markets for goods to sell.

“It’s unfortunate. It’s much easier to bring products to Canada from the U.S., but we’re in a corner,” he said. “I want people to know just how much damage this administration is doing to their relationships globally.”