Ireland - US Travel 2025 Review: Trump Slump or Business as Usual?

Throughout 2025, the first year of the second Trump administration, there was an expectation that visitation from Ireland to the USA would reduce. There were negative stories in many of the major news outlets about numbers being down, including RTÉ, the Irish Times and Irish Examiner. There were also negative forecasts from prominent commercial tourism analytics firms, such as Tourism Economics, predicting that visitation from Ireland to the USA would be down in 2025.

So how did actual visitation stack up against these predictions? The recently published official visitor statistics for 2025 paint a different picture. Here's what they found...

According to the US Department of Commerce I-94 figures, visitation from Ireland to the USA for 2025 was practically flat on 2024. In 2025, 490,632 people visited the USA from Ireland, compared to 494,344 in 2024. Year-on-year visitation was down a nominal 0.75% from 2024 to 2025, or approximately 4,000 visitors. It is also important to point out that 2024 was a very strong year for visitation to the USA.

So how does this performance rate in the European and international context? The general picture is that international visitation to the USA is slightly down, with some markets more affected than others. Germany and France are down 11.2% and 6.8% respectively, reflecting markets that are more sensitive to political factors and global economic threats. However, some markets are in fact up. The UK, the biggest overseas tourism market for the USA, is marginally up 0.5%, while Italy is up a significant 5.3%.

The figures for Ireland would suggest that US politics is not a significant factor for Irish consumers in deciding to holiday in the USA. Indeed, there are many factors that are helping to keep the USA a firm favourite destination.

The Euro-Dollar exchange has become more favourable (around $1.18 to €1.00 at the time of writing), making accommodation, meals, car hire and shopping more cost-effective for Irish visitors.

Airlift to the USA from Ireland has also never been better, offering incredible options for consumers. In 2026, 23 cities right across the USA will be served by direct flights from Dublin and Shannon. Over the last few years, exciting new routes have been introduced. These include Dublin - Nashville, Dublin - Las Vegas and Dublin - Denver with Aer Lingus, and Dublin - Detroit with Delta Air Lines. There is also a trend towards increased frequencies on existing routes, such as Dublin - Boston, which is going to a triple daily in peak season for 2026.

There's also great value to be had for Irish consumers. Airlines, tour operators and travel agencies are offering sales and deals to keep the USA front and centre.