Tourism is on the rise across much of the United States, with 46 of 52 states and territories seeing an increase in international visitors, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office’s most recent reports.
Predictably, the largest American municipalities saw large influxes of visitors, but even more off-the-beaten-path cities welcomed foreign tourists in 2023. Hartford, Connecticut, for example, saw a more than 200% year-over-year increase in international visitors. Houston had nearly 300,000 more tourists in 2023, and Philadelphia saw 200,000 more visitors.
Experts attribute increased travel in less prominent cities to the years-long investments that many cities and states make in their local tourism industries.
“Places like Tampa, Savannah, Cincinnati, Indianapolis [and] Louisville have found a way to craft their messaging to bring brand awareness and do so in an aggressive yet strategic fashion,” Taryn Scher, founder of TK Public Relations, which specializes in PR for smaller travel destinations, told the BBC.
“We’ve seen a huge rise in interest in these smaller and lesser-known destinations,” she told the outlet. “They became popular during the pandemic when people were looking for less-populated places to visit, and now the smart destinations who saw that rise realize there is real money in tourism.”
This increase in foreign travelers coming to the U.S. is also consistent with recent global trends. In 2024, international tourism finally rebounded to its pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report from UN Tourism. Globally, 1.4 billion tourists traveled internationally in 2024 – an 11% increase from 2023.
“Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations,” said Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the UN Tourism, in a statement. “This re-calls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism.”
Continue reading to learn which American cities saw the highest number of international tourists in 2023.
