By Jeff Wendt | Scottsdale Independent (abridged)
International visitors to Arizona are trending downward, while domestic visits are up, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism.
Preliminary numbers for 2025 show Canadian visitation is down about 19%, while visitors from Mexico are down about 5%, according to Josh Coddington, public information officer for the Arizona Office of Tourism.
“We are working on building up those numbers, and we haven’t been able to reach pre-pandemics numbers of visitors,” Coddington said.
Coddington can’t say for sure whether the current immigration stance of the Trump administration, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids taking place all over the U.S., is having any impacts on whether visitors are coming to Arizona.
Eric Kerr, vice president of insights and development at Visit Phoenix, tried to paint a different picture regarding the reduced number of visitors.
“Multiple factors contributed to reduced international travel to the United States and the Phoenix area in 2025, including U.S. tariff policies, public statements affecting relations with key international markets, changes to visa requirements and processing, perceptions of the U.S. travel environment, rising travel costs, and the impact of weakened foreign exchange rates,” Kerr said.
Pre-pandemic, it was estimated that nearly 6 million international visitors annually came to Arizona. The latest numbers, in 2024, estimated 5 million international visitors came to Arizona. The 2025 numbers won’t be in for another month or so, but it is anticipated it might be near the 2024 figure.
“We definitely have ground to make up,” Coddington said.
Arizona gets its most of its overseas visitors from the United Kingdom, with Germany and France right behind them.
A big event in 2026 that will draw a lot of overseas visitors will be the Route 66 Centennial celebration.
“We are going to see a lot of European visitors because of the Route 66 Celebration,” Coddington said. “A lot of them like to get out on the road, and as historical as that stretch of road is, a lot of people just like to get out and drive, and Europeans are known to do that.”
Two groups of international visitors that are increasing are those from Taiwan and India. As for Taiwan, one factor could be due to the growth of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in north Phoenix.
Another more recent fact is that flights are now available to Phoenix.
“There are now nonstop flights that run from Taiwan to Phoenix,” Coddington said. “For international visitors, it helps to have nonstop flights to your destination.”
According to a city of Phoenix press release, Starlux Airlines has three weekly departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Starting in March, service will increase to four weekly flights, adding a Saturday departure.
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