LA Tourism Faces a Summer Slump as Trump Policies and Wildfires Leave Travelers Skittish

Pedro Consuelo has worked at Souvenirs of Hollywood since 1990. Now 57, the father of three has recently had to pick up a part-time job to provide for his family.

“Sales have been down 50% since the pandemic,” Consuelo told TheWrap. “We used to have seven people work per shift. Now we cut down to three.”

After over three decades of working for the souvenir shop that sits caddy corner from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Consuelo said that it is disheartening to see the decrease in tourists, especially in recent months. Looking to summer, typically the shop’s busy season, he said he is worried that sales will continue to trend lower.

Consuelo is not alone. California has positioned itself as a safe haven from the chaos coming out of Donald Trump’s White House for tourists internationally, but its efforts may not be enough to win over sightseers this summer. That doesn’t bode well for what had been California’s $15o billion tourism economy.

More dire predictions about inbound travel to the U.S. trickle out with each new week, as President Trump’s policies on trade and the blowback at home to the economy has many Americans and overseas travelers curbing travel plans in anticipation of costs rising — or they just fear hostility to non-Americans.

Los Angeles, particularly Hollywood, has historically been a major U.S. tourist destination, especially over the summer. But the U.S. numbers are chilling, as more travel companies from airlines to hotels adjust their projections lower for the rest of the year.

Travel to the U.S. from Western Europe dropped by 17% in March, one of the biggest declines since the pandemic. according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Travel and Tourism Office.

Research firm Tourism Economics projected overall international travel to decrease 5% this year, with a 15% decline in travel from Canada. California has specifically leaned into the Canadian market, a major source for tourists, by investing $5.2 million into a new tourism campaign.   

Complicating matters for L.A. is the impact of the January wildfires. Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, said on Thursday revenues at its Universal theme parks dropped 5.2% to $1.9 billion in the first quarter, citing the fires as one reason. “In Los Angeles, it’s all related to getting L.A. back to having the tourism industry broadly recovered after the wildfires,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said of Universal Studios Hollywood during an earnings call. “The whole market is continuing to see people staying away a little bit more than I think the leadership in L.A. broadly, or us as a parks owner in that market, would like it to be.” 

Visit California and the Los Angeles Tourism Board have made efforts to distance the state from the Trump administration and Washington, selling the state to tourists as “an open, friendly and inclusive place where everyone feels at home.” Travel organizations in the state are starting with a key market: Canada. But will these cries for international visitors be seen as genuine?

Since fires raged through Los Angeles earlier this year, the city has struggled to regain its footing as a hub for tourism. Though fires only impacted about 2% of the roughly 469 square miles of the city, non-Angelenos perceive that 40% of the city had been burned, according to an individual close to the tourism board. Tourism groups are actively working against this assumption to bring visitors back to the city of angels. 

Meanwhile, by billing California as inclusive and welcoming, city and state legislators hope that visitors will be able to separate their bad taste for the United States from the Golden State.

Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration over tariffs April 16 in the first direct legal challenge to the president’s agenda. The move reignited California’s conflict with Trump, after Newsom spent months appealing to the president for federal disaster relief. Twelve states have since followed suit, filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for “illegally imposing” tax hikes on Americans through tariffs Wednesday.

“Tariffs are impacting travel sentiment. People are being cautious and mindful about spending because we don’t know what’s going to happen and what tariffs are going to be implemented,” said Anna Abelson, adjunct professor of tourism at New York University and at the University of Southern California. “Typically, it impacts the enabling factor, which is people need to have discretionary income, time to travel, vacation time, and then they need to have economic stability. And again, we are seeing that the numbers are not really very attractive.”

Hollywood’s flagship attractions are specifically at risk. Comcast’s Cavanagh said that first quarter results for Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida have held strong but did note that the opening of Epic Universe and the hype around the new park could be stabilizing its revenue.

“We are seeing softness in Hollywood due to the aftermath of the wildfires and our proximity to these areas, which impacted our results in the first quarter, and we expect the recovery at Universal Hollywood to be a gradual one,” Comcast Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said in an earnings call Thursday of the L.A. park. 

Disney may experience a similar slump in visitor numbers amid trade tensions and impending tariffs. Although Disney does not release visitor tallies, international tourists are a vital source of business for Walt Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.  

“With more than 510,000 Angelenos and over 1,000 local businesses relying on tourism for their livelihoods, we are concerned about any factors that could negatively impact perceptions of the U.S. as a preferred travel destination,” Los Angeles Tourism President and CEO Adam Burke said in a statement to TheWrap. 

The state leans on Hollywood attractions as keystones for international tourism. Whether it’s the Warner Brothers studio tour, the Universal Studios park or Disneyland, visitors come from near and far to enjoy and spend more for their stay. Representatives for Warner Bros., Universal Studios, The Academy Museum and The Grammy Museum did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. 

California has continued to push back against declining international sentiment for the U.S. under Trump’s leadership. For example, Canadians are differentiating California as a travel destination from the U.S. overall, according to YouGov, but both the U.S. and California are experiencing an increase in negative sentiment. 

“California is the No. 1 travel destination in the United States, and last year international travelers spent $26.5 billion at California businesses, a 17.5% increase over 2023,” Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta said. “That growth is beginning to slow. In response, we’ve revised our overall projections for 2025 visitor spending in California to $160 billion, down from the $166 billion we expected earlier this year.”

Newsom launched a Canadian tourism campaign earlier this month leveraging relationships with international partnerships and promoting Canadian ex-pats who call California home. California has seen a 15% decline in travel from Canada this year.

“The Canadian market is our number one source market, provided its accessibility and proximity [to California], and we already see decline,” NYU and USC’s Abelson said. “From the Californian perspective, the idea is that we need international travel, provided that they spend more, they stay longer, so they are more lucrative markets. That’s why we are going to see a decline in revenue across the board.”

Los Angeles implemented a “We Love L.A.” campaign encouraging potential visitors that the best way to support L.A. post-fires is to book a trip. The advertising campaign will run in domestic markets, as well as international markets, including Australia, France, Mexico, South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Even with these attempts to differentiate the California dreamin’ lifestyle from the rest of the U.S., tourism leaders are not positive that international visitors will come. 

“The feedback from the industry is we’re not sure that it’s working, but something had to be done, and that’s the best that we have at the moment,” Abelson added. 

The Dow Jones U.S. Hotels Index has declined 15% this year, hitting a 52-week low on April 8. The Airlines Index has lost 31% of its value and also fell to a new 52-week low earlier this month. Delta Air Lines has plummeted more than 38%, American has fallen over 45% and United has dropped more than 40% so far in 2025.

As the city prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Super Bowl in 2027 and Olympics in 2028, it’s more crucial than ever for L.A. to regain its staying power.

Back on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, Consuelo said, “I love my job. I want to keep working.” But as tourism numbers continue to remain slow, the retail manager is being forced to think hard about how he will pay the bills.

The post LA Tourism Faces a Summer Slump as Trump Policies and Wildfires Leave Travelers Skittish appeared first on TheWrap.