The Interview: US tourism envoy Nick Adams

America’s first de-facto tourism minister has insisted the country is ready to reverse a downward trend in international visitors this year and is confident the destination can reach an average 100 million visitors a year by 2030.

Ambassador Nick Adams, who was appointed special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism and values in March, also said the reality of visiting the US was not reflective of media coverage which he said was driven by politically motivated “narratives”.

The US saw a 5.5% year-on-year decline in international visitors in 2025, to 68.3 million, although the UK market was 0.5% ahead of the previous year.

According to data from the US Department of Commerce, arrivals from the top 20 overseas markets were down 2.2% in the first four months of the year, with the UK down 0.9%. However, Adams said he believes the dips could in part be attributed to people holding off to travel for events including this year’s football World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

He also said data for travel in the past month which was not yet in the public domain indicated an upturn on the back of a late-booking trend, and his confidence was further strengthened by growth projections from aviation analyst Cirium and the World Travel & Tourism Council.

Addressing a recent report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association which suggested bookings were below expectations in most World Cup host cities, he added: “I speak to hotel operators and owners all the time, they’re telling me the rooms are filling up.

“More overnights, more flights, more seats, higher visitor spend. It’s all looking on the up so I am quietly optimistic.”

Presidential commitment

Adams was speaking during his first tour of European countries since taking the newly created role, and said his appointment was a reflection of President Donald Trump’s commitment to the travel sector ahead of a series of major events.

He said: “The president, unlike any other president before him, is a real hospitality guy. I mean, he was building hotels and resorts before he was running the country.

“On top of that, we’re about to begin this unprecedented run of mega-events for the next 10 years, so America 250, the Fifa World Cup, the World’s Men Rugby World Cup, the Rugby World Cup for Women, potentially the Fifa World Cup for women.

“We’ve got the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles (and) we’re confident of securing the bid for the 2035 World Expo in Miami. So the next 10 years basically is non-stop opportunity for tourism and travel in the United States.”

He added: “I’ve set a personal goal of 100 million international visitors on average per year by 2030 and that’s pretty bold, because you would know that America last year got around 70 million so there’s a shortfall there.

“But I think with this big run of events, and the fact now that we have a dedicated person fulfilling this role, something the American industry has been begging successive administrations for over decades, I think that we have a real shot at it.”

Traveller confidence

Adams insisted potential travellers should be confident about visiting the country, despite concerns being raised over issues such as safety, affordability and the border experience, including proposals to allow customs officials more powers to collect social media information and details of extended family contacts during the Esta process.

He acknowledged coverage of stories, including recent Department of Homeland Security threats to divert airport officials away from frontline duties in so-called “sanctuary cities”, could impact perceptions, but insisted much of the coverage was politically motivated and did not reflect the truth.

“The narratives are that America is in general terms unsafe, expensive, inhospitable and unwelcoming [but] I’m encouraging everybody that’s reading this to go and speak to their neighbours, go and speak to their friends, go and speak to their work colleagues and ask those who have recently been to the US what it was like,” he said.

“It’s just not accurate or fair to scare people, to really injure America in her finest hour, injure our prospects of getting people, bringing investment to the country, and I have to believe that a lot of the people that have been building this narrative are coloured in how they view politics and their world view is making them suggest these narratives.

“Part of my job is to counter that and to make sure that everybody knows the reality, and I want people to know that if they come to the US, their visit is going to be seamless from the moment they land on the tarmac to the moment they check into their hotel, it’s going to be great.”

He added: “All we can really deal with right now is what is actually happening, not what’s being floated, considered, discussed, mentioned.

“Let’s deal with the reality, and I can tell you that as of right now, I am very confident that 99.9% of people that are coming as tourists are going to have an amazing time without any problems whatsoever, and they’re going to make memories that will last them a lifetime.”

Adams said growth from the UK market would be a focus as he looked to his target of 100 million annual visitors, adding: “We love the relationship that we have with Britain. It’s the third largest visitor market to us (after Mexico and Canada). More than four million Brits came to the United States last year so we want to expand that.

“We’ve always had this special relationship, and I’m very confident that British people will continue travelling to America to tick it off their bucket list.”

Industry engagement

Adams said he had already engaged with the industry, including making a keynote speech at the WTTC’s recent Global Summit in Egypt, and felt there were opportunities for growth across aviation, cruise, hospitality and ground transportation.

“I think that there are some additional routes that American and United and Delta could certainly be looking into. I think that there are ways to home port the ships of various cruise lines. I think it’s time for hotels to start breaking ground,” he said, noting he had also spoken to companies about the possibility of introducing a luxury sleeper train product to the US.

When asked about the decision last year to slash federal funding for destination marketing organisation Brand USA from $100 million per year to $20 million as part of President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’, Adams noted he had no policy-making authority.

But he said: “I work with Brand USA all the time, Brand USA are a very valuable partner, I love working with them, they’re still very active, they do great campaigns.

“All kind of budget issues are always on the table. These things fluctuate all the time. I like Brand USA. I like the work that they do, and they’re a very valuable partner to what I do.”

He added: “We have over 100 people in the federal government that work in tourism. The coordination and the public-facing stuff, that’s me, but there are so many people that are rowing on the boat with this.”

And he insisted: “The good news is that travel and tourism have never ever been more front and centre than they are now.”