Big Apple tourism went up by a fraction in 2025 but still fell millions of visitors short of projected totals — as the city still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, an eye-opening new report said.
“Tariffs and negative rhetoric” around travel to the US led to a “weakening” in international travel to Gotham by nearly 5% compared to 2024, the report from New York City Tourism + Conventions found in its annual report.
The city ushered in 64.7 million visitors in total – a .3% year-over-year increase – falling short of its highly-anticipated goal of reaching 67 million visitors in 2025 and overcoming 2019’s record of 66.6 million tourists, according to the report by the city’s official tourism organization.
“Western European markets are expected to decline modestly as tariffs and negative sentiment towards US travel continue to affect plans,” the group wrote in its grim forecast, noting 2024’s 12.9 million international visitors dropped to 12.3 million in 2025.
The agency reported a projected decrease in tourists from Canada (19%), Germany (10%), France (7%), Mexico (5%), Spain (5%), China (4%) and the United Kingdom (3%) in 2025, though visitors from Italy, Brazil and Australia were expected to increase between 1 and 2%.
In October 2025 alone, Canadian visitors to the US by air and automobile fell year-over-year by 24 and 31% respectively, according to the city comptroller’s office.
“The internationals weren’t coming,” Matt Levy, owner of Spread Love Tours, told The Post.
Levy, who typically books dozens of Canadian high school groups in the springtime, only saw two keep their reservations this year — and expects a similar outcome in 2026. He said domestic trips ahead of Thanksgiving dipped from around 30 bookings in previous years to about 12 this year.
NYC Tourism + Conventions updated its forecast in mid-2025 after a noticeable tourism shift following the 2024 presidential election. The group now projects for 2026 some 66 million visitors – still more than a half-million tourists below 2019’s record. That total includes 12.7 million international travelers, according to the projections.
The silver lining: domestic tourism rose roughly 1.5% year-over-year, with the projected number of leisure travelers jumping to 52.2 million in 2025, according to the report. That figure is set to increase again to 53.3 million in 2026, surpassing 2019 levels.
Business travelers, however, plateaued in 2025, and “will not reach pre-pandemic levels until 2029 due to the economic uncertainty and the shifting travel behaviors,” the report said.
Hotel revenue per room is up more than 4%, but occupancy is down “marginally” from 2024, the comptroller’s office noted. Broadway has reportedly rebounded to “around pre-pandemic levels,” comparable to 2024 figures.
Manhattan foot traffic also recovered to 90% of 2019 levels, up from 70% in 2024, the partnership wrote in a December report.
However, paired with increased Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road ridership, the group deduced the “increased foot traffic in Manhattan and alongside retail corridors was due to New Yorkers and visitors from the metro area frequenting these areas.”
Luxury hotels saw the biggest gains in occupancy this year, according to the business group Partnership for New York City – with high-rolling tourists paying upwards of $1,000 per night on lodging and generating triple the economic impact than regular visitors.
International visitors account for about 50% of all tourism spending, making foreign tourists “essential” to the city’s economy, NYC Tourism + Conventions’ CEO Julie Coker said in 2025 during a grim update to the group’s tourism forecast. The announcement projected a loss of over $4 billion in direct spending.
The industry group estimates visitor spending supports more than 60% of local jobs in entertainment; 30% in restaurants and bars and just over 5% in retail.
“Restaurants, bars, and hundreds of thousands of jobs rely on tourism, and when visitors don’t show up, the local economy takes a hit,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, told The Post.
“City and state leaders need to step up and invest more in tourism, especially as other cities spend far more to attract visitors and major events,” he said. “There’s no place in the world like New York City, and with America’s 250th Anniversary and the World Cup in 2026, now is the time to invest so New Yorkers can reap the benefits.”
Part of the cup will take place in New Jersey this summer, with an expected surge of visits to the city coinciding with the much-anticipated matches.
