by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 7:00 AM ET, Tue July 29, 2025
There has been a lot of news surrounding destinations recently, from the news that Europes new entry fee system is getting more expensive to new data highlighting Trumps less than positive impact on tourism in the United States.?
Read on to check out the biggest destination news you should know from July.?
Overtourism & Tourist Taxes
Traveler entering the European Union. (Photo Credit: Adobe/mirsad)
Ever a growing theme this summer, overtourism has seen quite a few headlines, along with new ways destinations are trying to curb its negative impact.?
The ETIAS system, Europes upcoming entry system, will now have a larger fee than previously thought. Set to begin in late 2026 after several years of delays, travelers heading to Europe will be required to pay 20. The current fee is around 7 euro.?
Additionally, the tourist-dense continent is also increasing fines and bans to discourage tourists bad behavior. Destinations across Spain, for example, are increasing fines for smoking on the beach, public urination, walking around in swimwear and drunken behaviorsometimes costing tourists over a thousand euro.?
Two new destinations also launched new tourist taxes this month: Greeces sustainable cruise tax requires cruisers heading to a Greek isle to pay a sliding range to visit a port. The price they pay depends on the season of year and how popular the island is. Cruisers heading to Greece should be prepared to pay up to twenty euro each time they visit an island.?
Baja California Sur in Mexico is also charging about $25 for every overnight traveler. The revenue is planned to go towards sustainability and destination development projects. Travelers are required to pay the fee online ahead of visiting the region.
Trumps Travel Impact & The United States?
Traveler in New York City taking a picture (Photo Credit: Getty/ svetikd)
The United States has seen quite a bit of news, with the Trump Administration urging more changes and making new rules for foreign travelers.?
Firstly, with the passage of Trumps Big Beautiful Bill, the future of Brand USA is left unclear. Brand USA is the nations official destination marketing organization, and the bill cuts its annual funding from $100 million to $20 million. This comes when the DMO is working to encourage travelers to visit the U.S. for its 250th birthday and subsequent global sporting events.?
Second, the Trump Administration has created a new $250 visa integrity fee that international travelers will be required to pay on top of any additional visa fees that are already in place.?
The announcement was incredibly vague, and so we have no details on how that will be implemented, why it is being implemented, and what the additional funds will be used for. Brand USA is partially funded by a portion of ESTA fees, so that could be a new way to fund the DMO, but this plan is unlikely.?
Due to the Trump Administrations approach to global relations and immigration, a new survey found that 80 percent of Southeast Asian travelers say that the U.S. is less attractive as a destination now. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed cited actions by the Trump Administration, while 60 percent cited worries over discrimination.?
Additionally, another report on Canadian visitation saw return trips by car plummet over 33 percent in June, marking the sixth consecutive months of declines. Returns by air also dropped 22 percent. Arrivals on non-U.S. citizens by plane dropped 11 percent in total from March, 2024 to April, 2025.?
While international travel to the United States drops, so is our passport ranking. Once ranked first in the world, it dropped to tenth place, tied with Iceland and Lithuania. Its below 30 other countries, including many from Asia and Europe.?
Ever wonder what Europeans think of American travelers? Theres a new survey for that! Upgraded Points asked 2,200 people across Europe what they thought about American travelers and found the countries who are most annoyed with Americans loud talking voices, bad behavior and insistence on speaking English.?
While 73 percent of Americans think they have a bad reputation abroad, only 27 percent of Europeans agree, though a larger percentage (36 percent) say they generally have worse behavior than other tourists.?
France, Hungary, Norway, Denmark and Spain reported the highest levels of dislike for American tourists, while Belgium and Italy reported the lowest.?
Tourism & Destination Development
The colorful capital city of Nuuk, Greenland. (Photo Credit: Mathias / AdobeStock)
Destinations and tourism organizations announced big plans this past month.?
Greenland, following time in the spotlight after Trump threatened to annex the semi-autonomous territory and the creation of its ten-year responsible tourism plan, is hoping to grow its tourism industry as a new, emerging responsible tourism destination.?
New flight routes, a growing cruise ship industry and popular social media campaigns are all new methods to get people to visit the island, or add it to their travel bucket lists.?
In warmer waters, the Caribbean Tourism Organization announced a new three-year tourism development plan focusing on five key pillars: sustainable and regenerative tourism, tourism intelligence, advocacy, market competitiveness and people development.?
Part of the plan is a new partnership with Conservation International, which will promote sustainable tourism models for the Caribbean and increase tourism funding for conserving the precious habitats and wildlife that draw travelers to the region.?
Closer to home, the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) has joined the worlds largest global network of DMOs and CVBs, Destinations International. The two-year partnership will work to grow responsible Indigenous tourism in the United States and showcase it abroad.?
Lastly, Dr. Aaron Sal, CEO of the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, spoke at a recent conference to define regenerative tourism for the state and his approach to regenerative tourism: viewing the industry as an ecosystem of many moving parts.?
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