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North America was the only major global region to record a decline in international visitor spending in 2025, even as international travel and tourism continued to expand worldwide, according to data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
International visitors spent about $235 billion in North America last year, down 3.3 per cent from 2024 and 17.8 per cent from 2019, according to the data.
All other regions covered in the dataset recorded higher international visitor spending in 2025 than in 2019.
The decline in North America was largely linked to weaker performance in the United States, where international tourist arrivals and visitor spending fell by roughly 5 per cent to 6 per cent. Factors cited for the decline include longer visa interview waiting times, travel restrictions, trade-policy effects and tighter border and immigration policies.
Mexico, however, recorded a strong performance, welcoming nearly 100 million foreign visitors in 2025 and setting new tourism records. Canada also recorded a 17.5 per cent year-on-year increase in international visitor spending, according to the data.
Europe remained the world’s largest recipient of international visitor spending, with $835 billion in 2025, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the combined spending across the seven regions covered.
Asia-Pacific ranked second with $573 billion, up 8.3 per cent from 2024. However, spending in the region was only about 1 per cent higher than its 2019 level.
The Middle East recorded the strongest growth from pre-pandemic levels. International visitor spending in the region rose 26.8 per cent from 2019 to $183 billion in 2025, driven in part by Gulf destinations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Spending was also 5.2 per cent higher than in 2024.
The Caribbean recorded $50 billion in international visitor spending in 2025, an increase of 21.5 per cent from 2019, making it one of the strongest post-pandemic performers among the regions covered.
International tourism’s recovery has therefore remained uneven across regions, with most destinations surpassing pre-pandemic spending levels while North America continued to lag behind its 2019 performance.
The outlook for 2026 faces additional uncertainty in the Middle East amid the conflict involving Iran, which could affect travel demand, flight operations and visitor spending across the region.