For years, the United States has been a bucket-list destination for millions—whether it’s the bright lights of New York City, the cinematic vibes of Los Angeles, or the natural wonders of its national parks. But lately, something’s shifted with the US travel demand. If you’ve noticed fewer international tourists snapping selfies in Times Square or queuing up at Disneyland, you’re not imagining it.

According to a recent deep dive from travel intelligence firm Mabrian, global demand for U.S. travel is starting to wobble—and not just a little. From Europe to Latin America, travelers are hesitating, holding off, or rerouting their plans altogether. The culprit? A mix of global instability, economic jitters, and a world that feels increasingly uncertain.  Let’s unpack what’s happening, why it matters, and what it could mean for the future of travel to the U.S.

Mabrian studied the spontaneous behavior of flight searches to the US, analysing the Share of Flights Searches Index for the United States, which indicates the degree of market interest in this destination based on flight searches trends and independently of confirmed bookings. Data reveals shifting global travel interest to the United States for 2025, with significant variations across regions.

The analysis of millions of flight searches made between January and March 2025 from ten key source markets for the United States (UK, Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, and China) for travel to the U.S. with travel dates extending through September 2025, highlights the instability of international demand to this destination.  Moreover, the Share of Searches Index reveals significant variations in key markets across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, while some regions demonstrate more resilience.

This travel intent trend is also consistent with the evolution of confirmed flight bookings via GDS taking place between February and March 2025, as per data provided by The Data Appeal Company.

European Demand Shows Signs of Strain

The evolution of the Share of Searches Index of European Union countries, the UK, and key markets like Germany, France, and Italy reflects that travel interest to the U.S. is diminishing, particularly in the aftermath of the January 2025 presidential inauguration, a trend to be watched ahead of newly implemented tariffs.

Overall, EU27 travel intent to the U.S. is down -0.4 percentage points year-over-year, with the Share of Searches Index settling at 5.4% by late March. This percentage implies that the U.S. accounts for 5.4% of the total flight searches launched by the EU27 countries during the period analyzed.

British demand, while initially impacted, has begun to recover—briefly surpassing last year’s levels in mid-March—making the UK the only European market analysed to show clear signs of resilience.  Although gross bookings slightly declined in February (-1.1%), they rose in March (+1.6%), suggesting growing confidence among British travellers.

Germany and Italy each recorded declines nearing -1 percentage point compared to 2024, indicating growing uncertainty among travellers.  Meanwhile, travel intent from Spain has remained stable throughout the first three months of 2025, with some weeks in January even outperforming 2024 levels.

“This data underlines the sensitivity of European markets to geopolitical developments in other continents”, explains Carlos Cendra, Partner and Marketing and Communications Director at Mabrian.“While travel demand is always capable of being resilient, sudden policy shifts or added difficulties to visit the country project a less-friendly image of the United States as a destination, which might influence travel intent in the short and medium term”.

Divergent Trends in the Americas and Asia

The research identifies three distinct regional scenarios for travel intent from the Americas and Asia.  Japan and Brazil show a declining trend in inspirational demand. Brazilian travellers’ intent to visit the U.S. sits at 8%, having dropped an average of -1.2 percentage points compared to 2024. In fact, bookings from Brazilian travelers to the U.S. between February and March 2025 declined by 15% compared to the same period in 2024.

On the other hand, the Share of Searches from the Japanese market to travel to the U.S. in the next six months, currently at 4.1%, remains below last year’s figures, showing no signs of recovery for the coming weeks.

“Data on the weekly evolution of inspirational demand to the U.S. for the next six months reflects the weakened consumer confidence from travellers in these top source markets when considering the U.S. as a travel destination over the next six months”, indicates Cendra. “This is creating two key effects: shorter planning and booking cycles, favouring last-minute reservations; and a wait-and-see approach that discourages bookings made well in advance.”

This double effect is also evident for the Canadian market. Share of Searches Index (22.3%) has been quite stable since January 2025, showing a similar inspirational demand trend to last year’s, but travel intent is not converting to actual bookings as in 2024, as gross passengers booked declined (-15.7% in February and -14.5% in March). By late March, Canadian demand was gaining momentum, improving confirmed passengers by +18.7% year-over-year, a frail trend that will depend on the developments of coming weeks.

Mexico and India also show a positive momentum in terms of inspirational demand, which should be monitored as the weekly evolution of Share of Searches Index in both markets since January 2025 has been unsteady.  Despite the volatile weekly evolution of Mexico’s Share of Searches Index (32.1%), the overall trend remains positive, whereas India surpassed 2024 travel intent levels by late March, even after early 2025 declines, suggesting rising interest.

READ MORE: Tourists Are Turning Away from the U.S. – What’s Driving the Decline?

Other top Asian source markets for the U.S., such as China and South Korea, have shown a surge in inspirational demand—rising by an average of +1.5 and +1.4 percentage points per week, respectively. Since January 2025, the Share of Searches Index for China (9.1%) and South Korea (6.7%) has consistently outperformed 2024 levels every week. This upward trend is also reflected in confirmed bookings data, with the number of South Koreans doubling compared to March 2024 and Chinese increasing by +40% in February and +23% in March.

Mirko Lalli, CEO of The Data Appeal Company, commented:

 “Travel intent and booking trends in the period following the announcement of tariffs clearly reflect heightened volatility and uncertainty. While March showed signs of recovery compared to February, the outlook remains highly unpredictable, as it is closely linked to shifting international policies and how travellers perceive global stability.”

At its core, travel reflects how people feel about the world—and right now, that world feels a little unsettled. The dip in US travel demand isn’t just about borders or budgets; it’s about trust, perception, and priorities. For the industry, it’s a reminder that tourism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It moves with the pulse of the planet.