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Boston was expecting record international tourism in 2025. That's now been derailed
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The local tourism industry was gearing up for a banner 2025, the year international travel was expected to surpass pre-COVID records.
But as President Trump marks “Liberation Day” today, those record-setting expectations have “gone by the wayside.” As WBUR’s Amy Sokolow reports, local travel experts say Trump’s promises to put tariffs on — or even annex — countries that are not only the United States’ top allies, but also key tourism markets have led to a drop in projected 2025 international travel to Boston, especially from Canada.
By the numbers: Overall, Boston attracts about 20 million visitors a year. Roughly 3 million are international, including what was expected to be a record 860,000 Canadians in 2025, according to Meet Boston, the region’s tourism bureau. However, Meet Boston spokesperson Dave O’Donnell says they’re lowering those estimates based on travel data and conversations with partners in the tourism industry. International visits to the U.S. are now expected to drop 9.4% in 2025, while visits from Canada are projected to fall 20.2%, O’Donnell shared.
- Why it matters: While the change amounts to a small slice of Boston’s overall tourism volume, it has a disproportionate impact. O’Donnell said international visitors tend to stay longer and spend more money. That’s bad news for local hotels, restaurants, cultural venues and other travel-adjacent industries. O’Donnell said “a couple” international business meetings planned in Massachusetts have also been canceled (though he declined to share specifics).
- What they’re doing about it: O’Donnell’s team is working to message Boston as “a welcoming, inclusive destination” via their reps in Europe, while they look for a partner in Canada to try to highlight the country’s historical ties and shared culture with New England. “We want to differentiate this region from some of the other rhetoric that’s happening,” O’Donnell said. “I think historically and geopolitically, we already are. But obviously these trends are impacting the country as a whole. It doesn’t matter where you are.”
Meanwhile: The state’s largest business group — the Associated Industries of Massachusetts — says the additional tariffs Trump plans to announce today will hurt the local economy. AIM President Brooke Thompson worries reciprocal taxes on imports will raise costs for businesses, leading to less investment and hiring. “What we’re really worried about is that they might have to cut jobs in order to realize some savings from this additional cost,” Thompson said.
- Rewind: Here’s a timeline of Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff agenda and how some countries have responded.
- What’s next: Details remain sparse about what additional tariffs Trump plans to announce today. NPR looks at the hints he’s dropped.
- Go deeper: The U.S. already uses tariffs to protect a few domestic industries. They offer insight into how Trump’s new tariffs might work out.
For the first time, Massachusetts’ food assistance program is offering online grocery shopping. State officials announced yesterday that the 125,000 Bay Staters enrolled in the WIC program can now order approved foods for in-store pickup or delivery (for a reduced fee) at 48 Walmarts across the state.
- Why? Rachel Colchamiro, the Department of Public Health’s director of family nutrition, said it’s part of a federally funded pilot program to help people who can’t drive, don’t have transportation access, or are simply busy with work or childcare obligations.
Massachusetts state regulators are forcing National Grid to give a break to thousands of residents who were subject to a billing error. According to a letter this week from the Department of Public Utilities, around 35,000 National Grid customers were not sent their gas bills last fall — including several thousand who didn’t get a bill for three to six months — and then charged all at once for their gas usage.
- Now what? According to DPU officials, that’s not fair since it means customers never got a chance to notice and respond to high heating costs this winter by lowering their energy usage. So, the state is ordering National Grid to only charge those customers for the 60 days before they received their bills. So, for example, customers who didn’t receive bills for four months will only have to pay for two.
P.S.— This week, we’re kicking off a new partnership between WBUR and MassLive to cover local innovation. Longtime tech columnist Scott Kirsner will be on Morning Edition regularly to discuss the latest developments, ideas and technologies in Greater Boston. Listen to the first segment about how local climate tech companies are reacting to the Trump administration here.
