Tourists aren’t the only ones not visiting the U.S. this summer: Why many Americans are canceling travel plans too

Tourists from afar are opting to stay away from the States this year, mainly thanks to fears over being detained by ICE for having once seen a JD Vance meme. But it’s not just the foreign visitors who are cutting costs, as a surprising trend is emerging for natives: many Americans are canceling, postponing, or drastically altering their own holiday plans.

Rising financial uncertainty is shaking Americans’ willingness to travel. In early 2025, consumer sentiment plummeted, and travel spending fell sharply as a result. “What’s going on with the market and the economy right now is probably having an impact on them making up their mind on whether or not they’re going to pull the trigger and take this trip or not,” Kimberly Hilliard, co-founder of a five-year-old travel agency in Maryland, told Reuters.

Understandably, a lot of families are trading long flights for road trips, staycations, and weekend escapes. Average summer vacation spending has dropped 25%, from around $4,200 last year to $3,132 this season, according to survey data revealed by The Washington Post.

Most Americans are spending less across the board in the shadow of economic uncertainty. “The spending slowdown is real,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, told the Washington outlet. “Consumers are stressed, and this is where we’re seeing it first: in domestic flights, hotels, and a lot of other service-sector spending.”

People say they are “feeling worse about the economy than they have in years, as new trade and immigration policies take hold,” with others worried about inflation being right around the corner.

For those ready to take the plunge and spend, the cost of travel has mirrored the worry: airplane tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms and concert tickets all got cheaper in June, according to the latest inflation figures cited by the outlet. Reuters add that airlines have “withdrawn their full-year forecasts as a result” of the potentially worsening economy.

Why is the economy getting worse?

The answer is just one word, spelled out with the first letters of the first few paragraphs.

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A 35% tariff on Canada will come into effect from 1 August, and Donald also announced new tariff rates for a significant number of countries that will come into effect on 7 August, all of which will simply make things more expensive for hard-working American citizens.

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