Ask Skift: Are U.S. Cities Struggling to Attract Tourists?

05.09.2023 - 05:31 / skift.com / Rashaad Jorden / Fred Dixon

Skift has looked into the hurdles that several major U.S. cities face in trying to boost tourism — San Francisco and Portland are just two examples.

Executives at urban destination marketing organizations throughout the U.S. have cited challenges such as negative perceptions of their cities and diminishing appeal among suburban residents.

So are U.S. cities struggling to attract tourists? Ask Skift, our artificial intelligence chatbot, provided answers using information from our news coverage and research. We’ve also did further reporting to answer the question.

Yes, some U.S. cities are experiencing challenges in attracting tourists. The decline in office worker foot traffic has impacted the vibrancy and aesthetic appeal that supports the tourism experience in city centers.

For instance, the downtown area of San Francisco has seen such a decline that some tour operators had to reduce their time there due to negative customer feedback. Similarly, suburbanites who now mostly telecommute are becoming less likely to recommend their cities as tourist destinations.

In Portland, a considerable proportion of suburbanites wouldn’t recommend the city to friends and family because they are staying home and “in their bubble.”

Moreover, the overall U.S. tourism industry has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. International inbound travel to the U.S. in May 2023 rose 26% year over year to 5.37 million visitors, but this is still about 20% lower than pre-pandemic visitor volumes reported in May 2019 (August 2023). Especially, the decrease in visitors from China, a major market for the U.S. tourism industry, has been cited as a significant factor in the U.S.’s inability to fully recover.

The challenges are real, including U.S. visitor visa delays that are complicating destination marketing organizations’ ability to attract tourists from key overseas markets. The average wait time for a U.S. embassy interview for a first-time visitor visa applicant in major markets such as India, Brazil and China is more than 400 days on average, according to the U.S. Travel Association. NYC Tourism + Conventions CEO Fred Dixon said the city has to attract travelers needing visas to boost tourism.

In addition, the absence of Chinese tourists has hurt several cities, including Washington, D.C. Destination DC CEO and President Elliott Ferguson said China was the city’s number one visitor market prior to the pandemic.

Although several large U.S. cities don’t expect to make full tourism recoveries this year, they are still putting up big numbers. New York is projected to welcome 63.3 million visitors this year, up from 56.7 million in 2022. However, local officials have acknowledged their efforts to attract more tourists