VALLETTA, Malta, October 10, 2026. The United States faces a major challenge in its travel and tourism industry: rebuilding international visitor demand amid declining foreign arrivals, lower visitor spending and questions about the country’s image as a welcoming destination. Against this backdrop, Nick Adams, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Tourism, American Exceptionalism and Values, defended his country’s approach to international perceptions during a press conference at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit in Malta.

The figures illustrate the scale of the challenge. According to the WTTC’s Economic Impact Research published in April 2026, international visitor arrivals to the United States fell 5.5% in 2025 compared with the previous year, while international visitor spending declined 4.6% to $176 billion. The downturn came as global travel and tourism continued to expand and competing destinations attracted a greater share of international demand. The United States remained the world’s largest travel and tourism economy, but the WTTC warned that the country was losing market share.

Adams focused on the need to change how international travelers perceive the United States. He recalled that before the 2026 FIFA World Cup, concerns had circulated in several international markets about how foreign visitors would be treated, including fears of detention, phone confiscation, social media checks and deportation.

The official rejected those perceptions and argued that the overwhelming majority of tourists could visit the country and enjoy a positive experience. During the press conference, he said that 99.9% of people traveling to the United States, whether for the World Cup or other reasons, would encounter no problems. That figure reflects Adams’s statement and was not presented as an independently verified statistic.

The World Cup as an Opportunity to Rebuild Confidence

For Adams, the tournament provided an opportunity to showcase a different image of the United States to millions of potential travelers. He singled out content creators who shared their experiences directly and without filters across social media platforms.

Rather than focusing exclusively on major tourist attractions, many visitors documented everyday American experiences: shopping at Walmart and Costco, visiting Bass Pro Shops, stopping at large gas stations and dining at Mexican restaurants.

According to Adams, this content allowed travelers to discover aspects of American life that differed from their previous expectations. He described the result as a public relations success and predicted that travel influencers would play an increasingly important role in shaping destination reputations.

The strategy seeks to use the World Cup’s global reach to address negative perceptions and encourage future travel. However, the challenge for the United States is converting that exposure into actual travel decisions, hotel bookings, visitor spending and sustained demand beyond the sporting event.

Competitiveness, Hospitality and the Recovery of International Demand

The issue is particularly significant because the decline in international arrivals did not occur in isolation. The WTTC reported that the U.S. travel and tourism sector grew more slowly than several competing markets in 2025, while other destinations gained ground. Factors contributing to the international debate include immigration policies, concerns about border procedures, perceptions of hospitality and travelers’ decisions to choose countries where they expect to feel more welcome.

Official U.S. data also indicate that the challenge continued into 2026. International arrivals recorded a year-over-year decline of 0.1% in July, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO).

In this environment, digital promotion is an important tool, but it is unlikely to be sufficient on its own. A sustained recovery will also depend on the actual visitor experience, clear entry procedures, air connectivity, prices, the tourism offering and the industry’s ability to convert interest into completed trips.

The FIFA World Cup gave the United States an extraordinary platform to project its image around the world. The question for the travel industry is whether that momentum can help reverse the decline in international visitors and strengthen the country’s position amid increasingly intense global competition.

In Malta, Adams emphasized the value of experiences shared directly by travelers. For the U.S. tourism industry, the next step will be demonstrating that improved perceptions can also translate into a sustained recovery in international demand.