“It is critical that your departments revisit the policies contributing to preventable and mounting damage to U.S. travel and tourism.”
Washington, D.C. – As the holiday travel season begins, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sent a letter to Trump administration officials demanding they address the continued decline in the United Sates’ travel and tourism economy. In the letter, Cortez Masto calls on the administration to provide details on how they plan to reverse this decline and relieve the economic stress caused by the implementation of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other reckless policies.
This petition follows an April 2025 letter from the Senator that the Trump administration failed to adequately respond to. Since April, the impacts of President Trump’s policies on the tourism sector have only become more apparent and the need for a plan to mitigate the damage has become even more pressing.
“With the holiday travel season approaching, I write again to urge the Trump Administration to address the continued decline in the United States’ travel and tourism economy,” began Senator Cortez Masto. “Since my April 8, 2025 letter requesting analysis of the Administration’s policy impacts on this sector, we have witnessed months of ongoing declines in both domestic and international travel. […] [I]t is critical that your departments revisit the policies contributing to preventable and mounting damage to U.S. travel and tourism.”
“According to the U.S. Travel Association, this year total inbound travel spending is projected to fall by 3.2 percent to $173 billion, and international visitation is expected to decline by 6.3 percent—returning us to just 85 percent of 2019 levels and contributing to a nearly $70 billion travel trade deficit,” she continued.
“As a Senator representing the most travel-dependent state in the nation, I remain deeply
concerned about the consequences for Nevada’s economy and its more than 400,000 workers supported by the travel and hospitality sector,” she wrote. “Our $98 billion tourism industry is experiencing declining visitation, and in September 2025 alone, Nevada saw a 9.5 percent drop in tourism, with a major industry stakeholder reporting a 14 percent reduction in receipts last quarter. Every day of declining visitation means fewer hours for workers, losses for small businesses, and reduced tax revenues that fund essential public services at the state and local level.”
“Given the insufficient responses to my previous inquiry and the worsening conditions, I again request detailed information on your departments’ assessments, actions, and plans to reverse the decline in the U.S. travel and hospitality economy—both for the 2025 holiday travel season and in preparation for major events including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, America 250, and multiple upcoming Olympic Games the U.S. is slated to host over the next decade,” she concluded.
The full text of the letter can be found here.
Senator Cortez Masto is a fierce advocate for Nevada’s tourism economy, doing what she can to support the state through the current economic chaos. During a Senate Finance Committee hearing this year, Cortez Masto pressed U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about the impacts of President Trump’s blanket tariffs on Nevadans, particularly those employed in the tourism and hospitality industry. She consistently voted to keep the federal government open to prevent the devastating impacts to the tourism economy a shutdown causes. In September, she hosted a press conference with the Culinary Union to call out Trump administration policies that are slowing travel and tourism in Nevada. She has also led legislation to bolster Nevada’s legal sports betting industry, remove tariffs on key goods, and ensure that the no taxes on tips policy best serves Nevada workers.
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