At the end of May, the power of the U.S. dollar fell against several currencies over consecutive days, according to Travel and Leisure. The culprit? A number of factors, namely newly imposed tariffs on imports from the Trump Administration. Simultaneously, the Euro and Japanese yen have strengthened, according to Reuters.
Recently, the U.S. dollar dropped below the Euro. This means if you’re headed to Europe this summer you will have to pay more for accommodations, food, and transport .
Chris Turner, global head of markets at Dutch multinational bank ING told Forbes, “If you’ve got U.S. tourists looking to book trips to Europe, I would say do it sooner rather than later… There’s a risk of the dollar falling even more this summer but, obviously, it’s still very uncertain.”
Travelers might consider making the journey to destinations where the U.S. dollar remains strong. These include Southeast Asia, Central and South America.
According to Forbes, with a weaker U.S. dollar, the nation would typically see more incoming tourism, but with a number of social and civil factors at play, such as a crackdown on immigration and deportations, inbound tourism has decreased.
According to Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, a company tracking tourism stats, the country’s internal issues are “stacking up as significant hurdles for the U.S. travel industry.”
Tourism Economics forecasted that international visitor spending in the U.S. would decrease by at least 5% this year, which equates to a loss of $9 billion.
Forbes also indicates that the average U.S. consumer is traveling less and Americans are not even considering domestic travel. “Hard data on consumption in January and February was much weaker than expected, suggesting that the U.S. consumer is finally stopping their splurge.”
As it turns out less than half of Americans have summer travel plans, and around 65% of those surveyed in Bankrate’s 2025 Summer Travel Survey, claimed high costs were to blame.
Bankrate senior industry analyst Ted Rossman advised that those who are still hoping to travel book their trips soon. “It also pays to zig when others zag,” he said. “For example, think about visiting a destination during its shoulder season or off season.”
