Executives at some of the biggest airlines, travel companies and hotel chains in the United States say they want to see 100 million international visitors in 2030, and they're looking for help at the highest levels.
President Donald Trump met Wednesday with members of the U.S. Travel Association, including the CEOs of companies like American Airlines, Carnival, Hilton, Marriott, and MGM Resorts, to discuss the ambitious goal.
The meeting comes more than a month after the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The soccer tournament, which was co-hosted by Canada and Mexico, was the most-attended in World Cup history, a bright spot after the US recorded a 5.5% drop in international visitors last year.
But despite the World Cup's success, with more than 6 million people attending games across the three countries, overseas visitors to the US continued to drop by 4.7% through July.
Despite Canada being the top inbound tourism market to the US, the Oval Office meeting did not appear to address Canadian tourism directly, focusing instead on an overall picture of international visitors.
The decline of Canadian tourism has been defined as alarming by many US states and continues to decline, with a recent report from Statistics Canada showing a more than 10% year-over-year decrease in visits in the first quarter of 2026. Those numbers -- which include a 13.6% drop in spending by Canadians during trips to the US -- are expected to continue to decrease due to the ongoing trade war between the two countries.
Executives at Wednesday's summit, which has not yet led to any legislation by the US government, said the goal was to make the country the world's most-visited destination.
In a statement from the US Travel Association Wednesday, CEO Geoff Freeman called the meeting a productive one, and said achieving the 100 million visitor goal would lead to $81 billion in additional spending in the country, as well as 400,000 American jobs.
