Trump to meet with travel industry CEOs on tourism push
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to deliver remarks on his administration's healthcare policies, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with major travel company executives on Wednesday including representatives from American Airlines, Marriott, MGM Resorts and Carnival amid a decline in international visitors.
U.S. tourism got a big boost from the FIFA World Cup this summer. Travel spending rose 6.2% year over year in June to $122.1 billion, its strongest monthly reading in a year and FIFA reported its best-ever attendance at this summer's tournament.
In 2025, international arrivals to the U.S. fell 5.5%, with travel officials citing a number of factors including lengthy visa interview wait times, higher airline ticket prices, stricter immigration policies, tariffs, and U.S. travel restrictions for some countries. Overseas visitors are down another 4.7% through July 2026, the Commerce Department said.
Visitors from Canada fell 20% last year amid tensions and has impacted U.S. tourism destinations like Las Vegas and in border states. The number of Las Vegas tourists fell by 7.5% in 2025.
Trump is meeting with members of the U.S. Travel Association and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is also set to attend. Other companies taking part include Caesars Entertainment, Hard Rock International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Venetian and Raffles & Fairmont.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump is meeting with travel companies "to celebrate the accomplishments that produced a historic summer travel season and delivered a strong boost to our local economies and small businesses."
The White House noted that it has made airport screening easier, allowing passengers to keep shoes on and adding family screening lanes at some airports. It also aims to create more biometric fast lanes for returning U.S. citizens and quicker international connections to domestic flights.
The industry faced a number of hurdles over the last year as partial government shutdowns snarled airport security lines and flights.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in May threatened to halt border processing at Newark and potentially other airports in so-called "sanctuary cities."
Travel groups warned that it could lead to chaos, strand thousands of tourists and Americans trying to get home, and prevent crucial cargo shipments.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter and Nick Zieminski)
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