The numbers are in, and they aren't pretty. Last year, of 154 countries surveyed by the World Travel and Tourism council, 153 proudly reported an increase in foreign visitors. And the one country that lost visitors? The U.S.

How bad is the drop in visitors to America? In spite of the huge bump of foreigners traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup, we're still down two million from 2025, and down 11 million since 2019.

So, when did the downward spiral start? The answer is nine years ago in 2017, with President Trump's executive order 13769. The order was his first push for a ban on Muslim travel to the U.S., including seven mostly Muslim counties. Biden then reversed the ban in 2021.