International travelers cutting their visits to Southern California ...Middle East

While Southern Californians fire up their barbecues and hit the beaches this holiday weekend, there might be a tad more room on the sand and in lines at Disneyland rides.

International travel is down across the region, keeping tourism and local officials in a ‘wait and see’ mode with possibly billions of dollars in the balance, according to travel and tourism experts.

Also see: July 4th fireworks: Cancellations, drones, where to watch and more tips for Southern California

Flights and hotel bookings have slipped in the early part of 2025, with some experts saying trade and immigration rhetoric from Washington, aimed at Canada and other nations, is forcing travelers to reconsider their U.S. vacations.

The drop in travelers out of Canada may be the earliest canary in the coal mine, a warning about future spending shortfalls across the region. Automobile and air travel to the U.S. during the first five months of 2025 has dropped significantly, according to Canada’s national statistical agency, Statistics Canada.

The World Travel & Tourism Council predicted in May that the U.S. this year would lose $12 billion in international tourism dollars, a 22.5% decline from 2024. The U.S. was the only country in 184 studied that would see visitor spending decline this year, according to the report.

“This is a wake-up call for the U.S. government,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC president. “The world’s biggest travel and tourism economy is heading in the wrong direction… While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign.”

International spending down

While tourism in Southern California is expected to see mild growth in 2025, international visitor spending is expected to fall.

Tourism is big business in the region, with visitor and other travel spending growing to $85.4 billion in 2024, up 2.5% from $83.3 billion in 2023, according to a recent reported published by Visit California, the state’s tourism marketing organization. That’s more than half of total travel spending in the state.

Travel spending in California increased 3% to $157.3 billion in 2024 from $152.7 billion in 2023. Visit California expects it will reach $158.1 billion in 2025.

However, a forecast the organization released in April says international visits were expected to fall by 9.2% in 2025, driven by the impact of higher tariffs on the global economy and negative sentiment toward the U.S. due to the administration’s trade policies.

International visitors are expected to spend $25.1 billion in 2025, down 4.2% from $26.2 billion last year.

Travel to the U.S. could be “negatively impacted by impediments to visas such as reductions in consulate staffing or greater scrutiny of travelers from certain origins,” according to the forecast prepared for Visit California by Tourism Economics Inc.

Hotel and travel by air slips

The slip in tourism is also showing up at Southern California airports and hotels.

One of the biggest destinations in the region is Disneyland and while the park doesn’t offer statistics on its visitors, analytics firm CoStar says hotel spending by travelers has slowed 13.6% in Orange County from March to May. This is a slightly steeper drop than the same year-ago period.

Over the same period in Los Angeles County, hotel spending has risen 3.5%, slightly more than the 0.2% drop seen in the year-ago period. In Riverside County, spending fell 35.7%, which is slightly better than the 36.7% drop in the year-ago period.

The steep drop is attributed to the departure of Canadian snowbirds, the retirees who leave the Coachella Valley at the end of winter. Many of these Canadians arrived in the fall before Trump won his second term.

International air travel into the region also shows a pronounced slowdown.

In the first five months of 2025, travel statistics from John Wayne Airport show a 12.6% drop in total international passengers traveling in and out of the Santa Ana airport.

Total international traffic, which includes service to and from Canada and Mexico, saw a 19.2% decrease in May 2025 compared with May 2024.

“This change may be attributed to a combination of seasonal route scheduling, broader travel industry trends and airline specific decisions,” said airport spokesman AnnaSophia Servin. “There is no direct indication that concerns regarding tariffs or immigration policies are responsible for this dip at John Wayne specifically.”

For the three airlines that fly between Canada and John Wayne, Air Canada carried 19% fewer international passengers in May, while Southwest carried 5.4% fewer, and WestJet moved nearly 45% fewer.

WestJet spokesman Josh Yeats said that the carrier reallocated flying from some Canada-U.S. routes in favor of adding connections and frequency within Canada, and internationally between Canada and Europe, and between Canada and “popular sun destinations.”

Katrina Foley, vice chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said she is closely watching the international travel figures at the airport and is taking a “wait-and-see” approach to determine if the trend needs more attention.

“I’ve asked our county airport staff to keep monitoring it,” she said. “It is something we want to monitor because our economy here in Orange County depends on tourism. There has been a significant drop [in travel] from Canada. What we can’t identify is whether it’s because of tariffs and deportations, or because we have all these other factors that are contributing.”

She cited the January wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, earlier hail storms in parts of the country that forced some airlines to cancel flights due to significant damage, and “mechanical issues with some planes that impacted travel.”

Other airports in the region are also seeing a drop in air travel from abroad.

At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), there was a 12% reduction in total passengers flying from Canada into the Los Angeles airport during the January–April 2025 period versus the same four months a year ago.

Airline service to LAX from Canada include flights from Air Canada, American Airlines, Flair Airlines, Porter Airlines, United Airlines and Westjet. Nearly all the airlines have announced plans this year to reduce service between the U.S. and Canada.

Ontario International Airport saw a 2.8% dip in international travelers from January to May 2025 from China, Mexico and Canada, while domestic traffic grew 1.1% over the same period.

There also was a decline in Canadian travelers who make their annual pilgrimage to Palm Springs, a haven for “Canadian snowbirds.” Many travelers from the frigid country make their way to summer homes in the warmer Coachella Valley climate in fall and winter months.

Travel spending by the numbers

Orange County: Visitor and other travel spending grew to $16.3 billion in 2024, up 2% from 2023.

Inland Empire: Spending grew to nearly $3.1 billion, up 3.9% from 2023. In the Deserts region, which include Riverside County’s Coachella Valley, spending grew to $9.2 billion in 2024, up 2.9% from the previous year.

Los Angeles County: Spending rose to over $34.9 billion, up 3% from 2023.

San Diego County: Spending grew to $16.6 billion in 2024, up 1.2% from 2023.

Source: Visit California

Related Articles

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( International travelers cutting their visits to Southern California )

Also on site :

• Syria Launches New National Visual Identity
• Supreme Court clears way for deportation to South Sudan of several immigrants with no ties there
• Legendary Seafood Company Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy