Individuals march within the Reclaim Delight Coalition’s seventh annual Queer Liberation March in New York, June 29, 2025.
Erik McGregor | Lightrocket | Getty Photographs
Canadian citizen Robert Sharp was planning to go to Provincetown, Massachusetts — some of the LGBTQ+-friendly locations in America — for his pal’s milestone birthday in July.
However towards a backdrop of ongoing commerce tensions sparked by President Donald Trump‘s tariff insurance policies and growing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and insurance policies within the U.S., he stated his plans modified.
“Can we wish to have that stress earlier than occurring trip? Or can we wish to help our personal nation?” Sharp stated.
The group he was planning to journey with determined to cancel the journey and can as an alternative go to Montreal, he stated.
Sharp and his accomplice had been additionally planning to go to Chicago or Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a separate journey this 12 months, however they shifted their plans to a Canadian highway journey between Calgary and Vancouver.
“We have been hit laborious in Canada with tariffs and there is been an actual sense of patriotism up right here. So, we finally determined to discover our personal nation, and do a highway journey to the Rockies and spend cash inside Canada to assist our financial system,” Sharp stated.
Sharp’s change in plans displays a bigger development of worldwide vacationers rethinking the place they’re spending their journey budgets and pulling again on visits to the U.S.
The variety of international guests to the U.S. by air dropped 10% in March from a 12 months prior, in accordance with the Worldwide Commerce Administration, a part of the Commerce Division. Together with land border crossings, the variety of inbound guests to the U.S. fell 14% in March from the identical interval final 12 months, in accordance with business group U.S. Journey Affiliation.
Oxford Economics estimates spending amongst worldwide guests to the U.S. will fall $8.5 billion this 12 months, as damaging perceptions of the U.S. tied to commerce and immigration coverage lead vacationers to different locations.
Among the many LGBTQ+ inhabitants, bookings for queer-friendly housing lodging within the U.S. on the LGBTQ+ journey platform misterb&b noticed a 66% decline amongst Canadian customers and a 32% decline amongst European customers from February to April, in contrast with the identical interval final 12 months.
The corporate stated it had a 22% enhance in bookings in blue states and a 9% decline in purple states throughout that point interval. It additionally noticed declines in cities inside purple states together with Salt Lake Metropolis, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas.
Misterb&b CEO Matthieu Jost stated general bookings on the platform usually are not down globally however are growing. LGBTQ+ people look like persevering with to spend on holidays, however they’re altering their locations, Jost stated.
The corporate stated the vast majority of misterb&b customers it surveyed this 12 months stated they use their journey funds as a type of activism — supporting inclusive locations and economies.
Individuals together with GLIDE President Gina Fromer, heart, trip within the 2025 San Francisco Delight Parade in San Francisco, June 29, 2025.
Arun Nevader | Getty Photographs Leisure | Getty Photographs
The rainbow greenback
Sharp, who owns LGBTQ-friendly journey firm Out Adventures, just isn’t alone in altering his journey plans.
In February, the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Egale Canada issued a press release saying its members wouldn’t take part in particular person at conferences or occasions taking place within the U.S. this 12 months, together with WorldPride, which befell originally of June in Washington, D.C.
The choice was made primarily to guard people’ security, stated Helen Kennedy, govt director of Egale Canada.
In his second time period, Trump has signed a number of govt orders concentrating on transgender individuals, together with stopping them from serving brazenly within the army and making an attempt to maintain transgender athletes out of women’ and girls’s sports activities.
One other govt order, which says the federal authorities acknowledges solely two sexes, female and male, prompted a number of international locations, together with Denmark, Finland and Germany, to challenge official cautions for LGBTQ+ vacationers visiting the U.S., notably transgender vacationers. Canada has additionally up to date its journey steerage with particular advisories for individuals with an “X” gender listed on their passports.
Kennedy stated another excuse for the choice to not journey to the U.S. was to push again on what she views as “financial warfare” from the U.S. towards Canada.
“Individuals discuss Canada and the U.S. having a protracted historical past of being unbelievable neighbors. And sure, we do, however that is primarily based on financial pursuits quite a lot of the time,” Kennedy stated. “Once you put that human aspect with the financial aspect, then you definately assume, effectively, OK, why would I’m going there?”
Kennedy stated members of Egale Canada who’re concerned in nongovernmental organizations would usually spend wherever from $3,000 to $5,000 per particular person throughout a visit to attend a convention or occasion. Company vacationers normally spend not less than $5,000, she estimated.
“We do spend a good chunk of change in accommodations,” she stated. “We do excursions, we lease bikes, we do the entire issues that everyone else does.”
The LGBTQ+ journey market is critical. The buying energy of LGBTQ+ customers general is estimated to be $1.4 trillion, in accordance with a 2022 research by the market analysis agency Delight Co-Op.
In 2023, the worldwide LGBTQ+ tourism market measurement was $296.8 billion, and it is anticipated to greater than double in 10 years, reaching $634.9 billion in 2033, in accordance with Market.US.
Analysis from Arival Journey exhibits that LGBTQ+ vacationers usually tend to be prosperous, with a family earnings of over $150,000, in contrast with different vacationers.
When touring, LGBTQ people e-book extra actions and excursions and spend extra on these experiences than different populations, the Arival analysis discovered.
John Tanzella, CEO of the Worldwide LGBTQ+ Journey Affiliation, stated his group is already sensing a pullback in worldwide LGBTQ+ journey to the U.S. He stated he has heard hesitations from worldwide members about attending the group’s world conference in October in Palm Springs, California.
“They do not really feel welcome right here, so why come and spend their cash right here?” Tanzella stated.
“On the floor, it impacts airways and accommodations. However should you dig just a little deeper it does have an effect on different companies, whether or not it is barber retailers or eating places, bars, spas. A number of communities depend on vacationers to return in and spend their cash,” he added.
Delight flags are seen on the Delight on the Pier boat parade, a part of the World Delight pageant, on the DC Wharf in Washington, June 6, 2025.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Photographs
Delight celebrations stick with it
Regardless of issues of waning visits from worldwide LGBTQ+ vacationers, in addition to some pullbacks in company sponsorships for Delight celebrations, Delight organizations throughout the U.S. stated attendance was robust at Delight Month occasions, a lot of which happen on the final weekend of June.
However many organizations stated it is nonetheless too quickly to get official attendance numbers or tough to estimate, provided that many Delight celebrations are non-ticketed and open to the general public.
Matt Şenız-Cheng, affiliate director of partnerships for NYC Delight, stated attendance for its Delight occasions final weekend is predicted to complete 2.5 million — according to its typical numbers.
He stated NYC Delight misplaced roughly 25% of its company sponsorships initially this 12 months, as a result of financial system, tariffs and pullback surrounding range, fairness and inclusion. However he estimated the variety of individuals and contingents collaborating within the Delight march this 12 months will probably be greater than in earlier years.
Ryan Bos, govt director for the Capital Delight Alliance, which ran WorldPride this 12 months, stated organizers had been “pleasantly stunned” that folks nonetheless confirmed up amid issues in regards to the Trump administration’s insurance policies.
Bos stated he had heard calls to cancel the occasion this 12 months resulting from political tensions in Washington, he stated.
“If we had been to retreat, what message would which have despatched to all the opposite Prides who’re additionally experiencing related challenges?” Bos stated.
Whereas WorldPride does not have official attendance numbers but, Bos stated he believes attendance was robust. Nevertheless, Tanzella, of the Worldwide LGBTQ+ Journey Affiliation, stated he heard numbers for WorldPride had been down this 12 months.
Cities in purple states have additionally continued on with their delight celebrations.
Attendance rose from about 28,000 final 12 months to 33,000 this 12 months at Phoenix Delight’s annual Rainbows Competition in April, Government Director Michael Fornelli instructed CNBC in a press release. Its Delight parade will probably be celebrated in October as a result of summer season warmth.
In Salt Lake Metropolis, SLC Delight estimated its celebration final weekend introduced in 17,000 attendees, greater than the ten,000 it noticed final 12 months, in accordance with Bonnie O’Brien, pageant director.
“We’re in just a little little bit of a blue bubble right here in Salt Lake,” O’Brien stated. “We’re not anticipating individuals to return from massive, massive cities or international international locations. However will we get individuals from Wyoming? Sure. Will we get individuals from rural Utah or rural Idaho? Sure.”
“It isn’t about journey. It isn’t about purple or blue,” she stated. “It is in regards to the closest place that they’ll discover neighborhood. And that they know that they are secure, if only for a weekend.”