Oregon Tourism Plummeted In 2025 With Canadians Canceling Their Vacations For One Reason

Tourism in Oregon was booming in 2024, with gains that brought in $14.3 billion and added new travel-related jobs to the state. Last year's increases built on previous increases in 2022 and 2023, but it looks like that growth is coming to an end. Unfortunately, international tourism in the state plummeted this summer, with numbers down 21% in July 2025 compared to the same month last year. The reason? The downturn is likely linked to President Donald Trump's repeated comments that Canada should become America's 51st state.

The international tourism numbers were prepared as part of a Visa spending report for Travel Oregon and demonstrate the big impact that these visitors have on the state's economy. In 2024, international visitors spent an estimated $700 million as they spent time in urban hubs like Portland, enjoyed nature near Mount Hood, or took in the dramatic landscapes of the Oregon Coast. As more international visitors travel elsewhere, they take their spending with them, leading to a huge impact on Oregon's economy.

In particular, Canadians, who made up the majority of Oregon's international visitors and accounted for 29% of international visitor spending last year, are staying away. The effects are already being felt, with Canadian spending down by half in July 2025 over July 2024. It appears that President Trump's sentiments toward their country have alienated visitors from the north, some of whom wrote into Travel Oregon, the state's tourism commission, to explain their decision. One traveler from Calgary, Alberta, summed up what is likely what many are feeling, saying, "I will put my country ahead of my vacation plans and spend my money in Canada instead" (via Oregon Journalism Project).

The situation has put everyone in Oregon's travel industry the a difficult position of understanding where people were coming from while still wishing they'd visit the beautiful state. Julia Amato, Travel Oregon's director of communications, describes many of the letters the agency received as sad. "They wanted to come here," she explains, "but just as a source of honoring their own country, they didn't feel like they could spend their dollars here in the United States."

Unfortunately, this decrease in spending has hit one of the state's most beautiful areas the hardest. The Oregon Coast's pristine beach towns and mesmerizing natural wonders experienced a massive drop in revenue, with a 63% decrease in Canadian spending and a 47% decrease overall from international visitors. Not all of this comes as a surprise to Travel Oregon, which had already predicted in July that international travel numbers would decrease in response to policies and announcements from the current U.S. administration.

The unfortunate part is that Oregon is still recovering from the decline in visitors and spending that occurred during COVID pandemic restrictions. This spending decrease will certainly slow the economic growth gained back over the past few years. But it's not all bad news. Domestic travel has been increasing in recent years, and Oregon's landscape is perfect for travel trends like land snorkeling or noctourism. Hopefully, this will bring an increase in domestic spending to help offset the decline in international travelers.