Decline in travel to United States set to continue

The decline in travel to the United States is set to continue Keystone-SDA

Fewer Swiss tourists are travelling to the United States. Despite optimal financial conditions, with the dollar at its lowest level against the franc since 2015, arrivals in the United States from Switzerland are set to fall again.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“We are expecting arrivals from Switzerland to fall by around 20-25% in 2026, to below the 300,000 mark,” laments Heinz Zimmermann, chairman of the Visit USA (Vusa) committee, which promotes the United States as a tourist destination.

Last year, the number of travellers fell by 10.6% to 361,000. By way of comparison, before the pandemic, 474,550 people visited the United States in 2019.

“The rational factors for travelling to the United States – low dollar, attractive airfares – and the emotional factors are currently in conflict,” he explains. It is mainly first-time visitors who are hesitating, many of them putting off their plans to travel to the United States, while so-called “repeat” visitors continue to cross the Atlantic.

On Thursday, around a hundred travel agencies gathered in Zurich to discover various American destinations and attractions. Organised by Visit USA, the event enables travel agents to find out more about their customers and pass on the latest news.

“We want to remain present, as the Swiss market is important despite its small size,” says Zimmermann. In the current situation, this is a long-term investment.

Among the exhibitors, a certain bitterness is palpable. “The image of the United States has deteriorated dramatically, and Trump’s policies are having a devastating effect on international tourism,” said David O’Donnell, vice-president of communications at Meet Boston, the tourism office for the region.

The situation is made all the more frustrating by the fact that the major cities on the East Coast, including Boston, are on the whole more progressive and oppose the policies of US President Donald Trump. “Our region is home to some of the world’s leading educational and research institutions, and it’s a key part of our identity”.

+ Trump dampens Swiss desire to travel to the US

Valuable Swiss clientele

Boston welcomes around 25,000 Swiss visitors every year, the majority (75%) for leisure purposes. The purchasing power of these travellers makes them a popular clientele. “Swiss visitors spend around $295 (CHF230) per person per day, not including hotel and air fares,” said O’Donnell.

The city will be taking advantage of its status as host city for the football World Cup this summer. “We still have some availability for the summer, for those who want to feel the excitement of the city,” said O’Donnell. However, Boston wants to position itself as a four-season destination, and has in particular expanded its activities during the winter season.

It is difficult to get precise answers from the airlines on the state of summer bookings. Edelweiss concedes, however, that “bookings for the United States are currently proving more difficult”, says a spokesperson.

“Given the geopolitical situation, we are seeing an overall drop in bookings, particularly among Swiss travellers. As most of our destinations in the United States are only served from spring or summer onwards, current booking figures are still relatively low. It is therefore not possible at this time to give a definitive estimate for the summer season,” he added.

Adapted from French by AI/ts

How we work 

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at [e-mail]