The United States was the world’s dominant travel and tourism market in 2024, according to a 2024 Economic Impact Trends Report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). In 2023, a record-breaking $2.36 trillion was added to the U.S. economy from tourism. Tourism Economics then predicted a 9% increase in international arrivals in 2025 compared to 2024. However, political tensions and negative perceptions of the U.S. have been keeping international tourists away, steering many travelers from big-spending allied nations to visit Canada instead. As a result, Tourism Economics did a complete 180; it revised its predictions to a 9.4% decline in international visits to the U.S., and again earlier in August to an 8.2% drop—and drop, it has.
Visits to the U.S. by overseas travelers matched the predicted 8.2% decline in the first half of 2025, according to Oxford Economics, with the largest decline being Canadian travelers, who, in 2024, were the single largest source of tourism for the United States. Over 20 million Canadians visited America last year, representing 26% of the 77 million overseas tourists in the USA in 2024. Canadians also contributed $20.5 billion to the U.S. economy and supported an estimated 140,000 American jobs, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
This year, though, Canadian airfare bookings to the USA are 35.6% to 43.0% lower than this time last year, according to Tourism Economics, which aligns with Canada’s U.S. travel boycott. Canadians’ absence is being felt by many American destinations, from Las Vegas, which recently acknowledged the consequences of its drop in Canadians, to Minnesota, which has been begging for Canadian visitors’ return. However, while international leisure visits to America from global nations (not just from Canada) are down, a new report by SAP Concur shows the country has managed to replace its dwindling tourism with a boost in a different kind of international visitor. As it turns out, business travel to the USA is on the up (and Canadians are surprisingly a part of that as well).
Leisure Travelers Are Down, But The U.S. Is Seeing An Inspiring Surge In A Different Type Of Traveler
A report by SAP Concur highlights that leisure travel to the United States is on the decline in 2025, which is no surprise, given that data from the WTTC earlier in the year suggested that the USA is the only country out of 184 globally to experience a decline in international tourist spending this year (some reasons for which are outlined in the YouTube video below).
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the American travel sector. It turns out that business travel to the country is stable and strong. In fact, the report notes that the U.S. was the top destination for international business travelers in the first half of 2025.
Indeed, America is, so far, successfully replacing its drop in leisure tourists with solid visits from business travelers—including those from Canada, which is somewhat surprising given Canadian tourists’ travel boycott stemming from tense relations between the two nations. So, what exactly do the numbers say?
The U.S. Is The Top Destination For Global Business Travelers—With Surprising Stability From Canada
SAP Concur’s report says 15% of all business air travel bookings were to destinations in the United States—a figure that’s double the number of business bookings to several of America’s other friendly allies, such as Germany (7.7%) and the United Kingdom (7.6%), which came second and third behind the U.S.
What’s quite surprising, however, is that Canadian business travelers are still going to the U.S. despite tourism boycotts. June data from Statistics Canada shows a 33% decrease in Canadian visits by road, and a 22% drop in Canadian air travelers compared to the same month in 2024. However, SAP Concur’s report notes that business trips between Canada and the U.S. remained stable; 80% of outbound business trips made by Canadians were to the U.S., according to the data.
Moreover, not only did business travel between the two countries hold steady, but international booking volume for business travel actually rose by 0.18% in Canada in the first half of 2025, slightly up from the same time in 2024. According to the report, the top international destinations globally for business travelers in the first half of 2025 are outlined below.
Top International Destinations For Business Travelers In The First Half Of 2025
- United States
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- France
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Mexico
- China
- Italy
Combining data from BCD Travel and American Express Global Business Travel, SAP Concur’s report points out that the negative travel sentiment toward the U.S., which has been gripping Canada, Western Europe, and a number of countries in Asia, doesn’t seem to be swaying international business travelers with corporate interests in America. Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel at SAP Concur, provided commentary on the report.
“Business travel to the U.S. seems to be business as usual,” Sultan said, adding, “In the first half of 2025, we saw a 1% increase in inbound business travel volume to the U.S. compared to the first half of 2024.”
Granted, the small increase mentioned by Sultan is still lower than the 2.6% year-on-year boost in international business travel volume—which decreased by 4.5% in the first quarter of 2025 to 0.6% in the second quarter, according to SAP Concur’s report. Despite that drop—which slumped around the same time Trump’s tariff war heated up tensions between the U.S. and global economies—the report says it’s “not surprising” because it still aligns with standard seasonal travel trends.
Providing commentary to CNBC Travel, Sultan explained that SAP Concur’s predictions of strong inbound business travel to the U.S. are coming true, following a rebound in business travelers last year.
“In 2024, we really started to see business travel come back. Domestic trips were up about 3%, and international trips grew nearly 6% globally,” Sultan told CNBC Travel, adding that, “With that kind of momentum, we expected the trend to continue into 2025. And so far, that’s what we’re seeing.”
Adding to the optimism, the U.S. Travel Association’s travel forecast predicted a 4.0% growth in business travel spending for 2025, totaling $316 billion. That, coupled with the data showing boosted business visits to the United States, is good news for the nation, as figures from an Economic Impact Research study by the WTTC and Oxford Economics had projected earlier in the year that America is hurtling toward a $12.5 billion loss in international visitor spending for 2025, falling to a little under $169 billion in 2025. That total is significantly lower than the $181 billion in 2024 and represents a shortfall of 22.5% compared to the previous peak.
The U.S. Travel Association has since called for America to reclaim its global travel leadership after the country was ranked 17th out of 18 for travel competitiveness (seen in its Instagram video above).
Furthermore, at the same time as international leisure travelers to the U.S. are in decline (and business visits are up), another trend has emerged this year. SAP Concur’s report shows American business travelers are increasingly staying at home in 2025.
U.S. Business Travelers Are Heading Overseas Far Less In 2025, But Corporate Travel To Canada Stays Steady
Although business travel to the U.S. doesn’t appear to be slowing down in 2025, outbound trips by American business travelers have stalled. International business travel bookings from the U.S. fell by 2.3% year-on-year during the first half of 2025, according to SAP Concur’s report. But among the American business travelers who have still been heading abroad, where exactly have they been going?
Despite a few differences in corporate trips between the U.S. and its neighbor to the north, most American business visits were to Canada, and the same but vice versa can be said for Canadian business travelers, too.
Where American And Canadian Business Travelers Visited In The First Half Of 2025
|
Where Business Travelers From The U.S. Went |
Where Business Travelers From Canada Went |
|
1. Canada |
1. United States |
|
2. United Kingdom |
2. United Kingdom |
|
3. Mexico |
3. Germany |
|
4. Germany |
4. France |
|
5. France |
5. Mexico |
|
6. Japan |
6. Netherlands |
|
7. Netherlands |
7. India |
|
8. India |
8. Spain |
|
9. Spain |
9. Switzerland |
|
10. China |
10. Brazil |
When it comes to American business travelers going abroad, the data shows the first quarter of 2025 only experienced a small, year-on-year drop of 1%. However, a 3.8% drop in the second quarter followed that initial modest decline.
Although SAP Concur’s report said this drop is still “consistent with seasonal trends,” the U.S. Travel Association noted in January that it projected business travel to be slower this year, expecting spending to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels after 2028.
The report also notes that American business travelers paid the most for international flights (an average of $2,675), although airfares between the U.S. and Canada returned to 2024 levels in the summer, falling from $997 in the first quarter to $1,100 by June.
Will the United States continue to attract and maintain international business visits, while also keeping its business trips overseas at steady levels? Given the state of the country’s disintegrating tourism figures, it’s safe to say that many officials in the USA would probably want to keep hold of the nation’s valuable international business visitors.
As relationships between the U.S. and global nations fluctuate due to tariff wars and immigration tensions, only time will tell what international visits to America will look like throughout the rest of 2025 and into 2025. Sure, many believe it’ll only get worse as the U.S. is set to impose a $250 visa “integrity” fee on some travelers (making America one of the most expensive countries to get a tourist visa), plus the new rule that’ll see some travelers charged a five-figure fee to visit the U.S. However, the impacts are yet to be seen.
