FORT LAUDERDALE -- A contingent of Trump administration officials made their way to the nation's largest inbound-travel conference this week, where sagging visitor numbers weighed heavily on the minds of many attendees.
Officials at the U.S. Travel Association's IPW conference included Nick Adams, President Trump's newly appointed special envoy for tourism. He's a conservative influencer who became the first person to hold that job.
Also present were Robert O'Leary, the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) deputy assistant secretary, and Andrew Guiliani, who heads the White House's FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force.
One of the conference speakers was Matt Davies, an executive director at Customs and Border Protection's office of field operations. He assured a group of destination-marketing professionals that Customs hasn't changed its policies or approach to U.S. entry during Trump's second presidency, despite the view of many that enforcement has gotten tougher.
Federal government representation at IPW is nothing new. What's new is that the U.S. was the only major country in the world to record a decline in visitors in 2025.
The 5.5% drop, from 72.3 million to 68.3 million, was fueled by widespread resentment in Canada and Western Europe to Trump's tariff policies and his inflammatory rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state and buying Greenland.
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, Canada visitation declined 20.9% last year. International visitor spending fell 2.4%, U.S. Travel said.
For the first four months of this year, international arrivals were down 4.3%, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration. Arrivals from Canada in January and February, the most recent months recorded, were down 15.2%.
U.S. Travel nevertheless is forecasting a 3.4% rise in visitors this year, to 70.6 million, helped by the World Cup this summer. However, the association doesn't expect visitation to reach the record 2019 figure of 79 million until 2029.
Pledge for a turnaround
In an interview at the conference, Adams set a much bolder target, saying his goal is 100 million visitors by 2030. He said the Trump administration was aware of last year's tourism decline and that "we are going to turn it around."
He said that major global events, including this year's World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, will fuel a golden age of travel for the U.S.
U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman welcomed that goal as well as the more modest target of 85 million for 2030 set by the NTTO.
"I love their energy, their enthusiasm, their zeal. I look forward to seeing the plan that's going to help us get there," Freeman said in an interview.
At the same time, he said that Trump policies are likely to continue impeding U.S. inbound travel.
"Do I expect this administration to back off their trade goals and approach? I do not. I expect them to continue their approach on trade issues, understanding that we are collateral damage in that fight. That is obviously an enormous challenge for us," Freeman said.
Recognizing the limitations, U.S. Travel instead placed much of its emphasis at IPW on harmful travel-specific policies that the Trump administration has in the works.
A planned $250 increase in visa fees is in its crosshairs, as is a Customs proposal to require travelers entering the U.S. from the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries to submit five years of social media history.
The $250 Visa Integrity Fee was passed by Congress in last year's budget bill and was supposed to take effect on Oct. 1. So far, it hasn't been implemented.
Last December, Customs published a proposal in the Federal Register that would require individuals seeking approval to travel to the U.S. through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization to submit five years of their social media history.
At IPW, Davies revealed that Customs is now considering a scaled-down version of the controversial proposal.
Instead of requiring five years of history, it is contemplating a targeted approach; the amount of social media information required would depend upon the answers applicants provide as they work through the application process. Davies said he doesn't expect any new policy to take effect until late this year at the earliest.
Adams, meanwhile, said he's listening to what the travel industry is saying. While his new position has no defined policymaking authority, Adams boasted that he has Trump's ear.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure that our policies are policies that don't discourage tourism from the places that have been so good to the industry," he said.
Freeman said he would prefer that Customs rips up the social media proposal, arguing that it won't fundamentally strengthen security. He also expressed concern that the Trump administration will pursue protectionist travel policies more aggressively after the World Cup ends in July.
"I think the industry is going to have to work even harder in the remainder of 2026 and in 2027 and 2028 to keep some of the bad ideas at bay," he said.