Axios C-Suite: Even the World Cup couldn't stop America's tourism slide

Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S Travel Association, shared with me some very sobering — and telling — stats showing even our closest allies are refusing to visit America.

• Most startling: Despite hosting the World Cup, overseas travel to the U.S. was DOWN this summer.
• We're on pace for overseas visitors to drop by 2 million from last year — down 20% from our '19 peak.

• "We're the only major country in the world losing visitation, he told me. "It's mind-boggling."

Why it matters to other CEOs: This is hitting the U.S. economy hard. And it's mostly self-inflicted: longtime allies like Canada (down 23% over two years) or Germany and France (down 16% and 15% YTD, respectively) are stiffing us, largely out of protest and fear.