Foursquare data suggests tourism to US is plummeting

Foursquare today released data suggesting international tourism numbers to the United States are in freefall.

The data comes from 13 million of Foursquare’s users, spread out over 150 countries, and charts travel patterns from July 2016 through March 2017. According to the charts Foursquare has shown, tourism to the United States took a downward turn around October 2016, and shows little sign of recovery in the intervening months.

The data specifies a difference between “business travel” and “leisure travel,” defined by the different places the traveler stopped:

Leisure venue visits are defined as stops at the following: casinos, department stores, malls, monuments/landmarks, museums, night clubs, restaurants, and theme parks. Business venues comprise stops at convention centers and offices.

Leisure travel to the US showed the sharpest fall, while business travel everywhere remained steady across the board.

Foursquare also shows that specifically tourism from the Middle East and Central/South America is on the decline, though with a slight increase as 2017 progresses.

Foursquare did not identify a cause directly, but suggested either current US foreign policy or a stronger dollar, in concert with other causes, could be the culprit.