Safety concerns, a weak dollar, and border security are some of the issues reportedly contributing to a drop in Australians travelling to the United States.

Recent media reports have suggested Australians are turning away from US travel, with data indicating fewer are visiting and planning trips compared with previous years.

But new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) paint a different picture, and experts say current statistics should be taken with a grain of salt.

So, are Australians really turning away from US travel, and what are the factors playing a part?

How many Australians are travelling to the US?

According to preliminary data from the US government’s International Trade Administration, there were 59,859 Australian visitors to the US in March. That’s a 7.1 per cent drop from March last year, when 64,418 Australians visited the US. The Easter holiday period also fell in March in 2024 while this year, it was in April.

This year to date, 201,867 Australians have arrived in the US, according to the data. That’s about 1,500 fewer people than the corresponding period last year.

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But according to the latest data from the ABS, travel to the US appears to have slightly increased. The ABS’ short-term resident returns for March 2025 tracked 55,870 Australians returning from the US, up from 50,650 for the same period last year.

Professor Sarah Gardiner, director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism, said the difference in numbers is likely due to different methods of data collection.

“A lot of our ABS data is done by our arrivals card, so when people come in through our entry points, international airports and so forth, it is tracked through that methodology,” she said.

“If they’re [the US] using different types of tracking, maybe survey data or other data sources, there can be some variability in the data.”

Gardiner said the March travel data is not an accurate reflection of current issues.

As well as the data already being months old, those travelling in March would likely have booked their trips much earlier, without knowing about current issues.

“Things are changing quite quickly in terms of the situation, and so you’ve got a bit of forward booking in that system as well,” she said.

“So it’s where it goes over the next few months that will be quite interesting to see if there is any impact.”

Are Australians less interested in travelling to the US?

A national survey of 1,509 Australians aged 18 to 65 indicates fewer people were planning a trip to the US from 15 March to 15 May than the corresponding period 12 months ago.

The quarterly poll, commissioned by the Tourism and Transport Forum, had the US as the fifth most popular international destination for autumn 2024, with 8 per cent of travellers headed there.

The US slid to seventh on the list for this autumn, scooping up less than 6 per cent of Australia’s overseas travel market.

Sara Dolnicar, professor of tourism at the University of Queensland Business School, said she expects the numbers will rebound relatively quickly.

Dolnicar said tourists are “very reactive” to world events and often base travel decisions around factors such as currency exchange rates, safety or security concerns, and environmental issues, particularly when travelling to far-away places like the US.

“Travel is about adventure, but controlled adventure, so you don’t want to really expose yourself to unnecessary risk,” she said.

“(Australians) might just be saying ‘right now it doesn’t seem stable enough for me to drag my family across there and not knowing what’s going to happen’,”.

She believes many Australians remain interested in travelling to the US, but may delay visiting until they feel more secure, particularly those who are putting trips off due to financial concerns.

“Tourism is exceptionally resilient,” she said.

“My prediction … is that it will bounce back because these are not dreams given up. They are deferred dreams or deferred aspirations of people.”

What are the factors influencing Australian travel to the US?

Dean Long, CEO of the Australian Travel Industry Association, said he believes interest in travel to the US has dropped in recent months.

“The priced product in the US is very high when compared to the value that you can get across Southeast Asia in particular and even parts of Europe,” he told the Australian Associated Press in April.

“We think currency and value are the two things that are really driving that.”

The exchange rate for the Australian dollar last week fell below 60 US cents, its lowest level since April 2020, following US President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.

In a briefing, Tourism Economics, a division of the United Kingdom-based economics advisory firm Oxford Economics, said policies and pronouncements from the Trump administration were contributing to a growing wave of negative international traveller sentiment toward the US.

“Heightened border security measures and visible immigration enforcement actions are amplifying concerns,” it said.

“These factors, combined with a strong US dollar, are creating additional barriers for those considering travel to the US.”

Is the US tourism industry in trouble?

According to the US International Trade Administration data, visitor numbers from countries other than Australia are also declining.

According to the dataset, the United Kingdom — the US’s top tourism-generating country — had a 14.3 per cent decrease in visitors compared with the previous year.

Germany recorded a 28.2 per cent decrease, while the number of visitors from Spain and Ireland dropped by 24.6 per cent and 26.9 per cent respectively.

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Dolnicar said these reductions could be concerning for the US tourism industry.

“If you think about the tourism industry … globally it’s about one in 10 jobs that’s funded by the tourism industry and it’s about 10 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product),” she said.

“So if you have that kind of drop of numbers, that has immediate economic implications for a country.”

Some countries recorded modest increases, including Japan, Brazil and Italy, with rises of 3.6 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.

— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.

In President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the White House for his second term, the dollar has weakened 9%, according to Bloomberg.

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While this may seem like bad news, there are also downsides to a strong dollar. For instance, global demand for goods made in the United States can decrease if consumers in other countries can’t afford to buy them and American workers could then be impacted, per CNBC.

On the other hand, a weaker dollar may benefit consumers in the U.S. Here’s a look at some ways that could happen.

More Jobs and Lower Prices

“All in all, a weaker dollar can make our economy tougher, giving real benefits to those who shift their spending and investing ways,” said Ben Mizes, an investing expert and co-founder of Clever Real Estate.

“When the dollar dropped in 2020, more jobs popped up in the U.S. because our stuff seemed cheaper and better to both people here and others around the world,” Mizes explained. “For folks buying things, this could mean not worrying so much about work or finding new jobs, especially in places that make stuff, farm or welcome tourists.”

Mizes added that buying stuff made nearby might also help consumers save some money since things from far away could cost more. He said this helps local businesses grow.

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Cheaper Travel Experiences

Perhaps a weaker dollar could benefit your travel plans.

“Since traveling abroad can become more expensive with a weaker dollar, I’ve found amazing deals at U.S. destinations,” said Andrew Lokenauth, a money and investing expert. “Hotels and attractions get hungry for domestic tourists.”

Additional Investment Opportunities

According to Marguerita Cheng, a certified financial planner and an ambassador for the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA), here are some ways investors could benefit from a weaker dollar:

Invest in foreign companies or American companies that earn substantial revenue from outside of the U.S.

Invest in currency ETFs that have exposure to a single currency or a basket of currencies.

Invest in the stock market indexes of countries whose currencies you believe will appreciate relative to the dollar.

Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.

New Delhi: Economists expect the impact of the Indian rupee’s sharp drop against the US dollar to be short-lived, despite concerns over inflation, foreign investment, and fiscal stability, as escalating India-Pakistan tensions, a strengthening US dollar, and a market sell-off drive the currency’s decline. At the same time, they warned that things could take a turn for the worse if the conflict with Pakistan lingers.

The rupee’s 88-paise drop on Thursday marked its steepest single-day fall in more than two-and-a-half years. On Friday, it opened 0.2% lower at 85.85 against the US dollar, and thereafter depreciated 15 paise to 85.869 in early trade. In comparison, the rupee stood at 83.51 against the dollar a year ago (9 May 2024), according to Bloomberg data.

“The rupee is echoing the turmoil in the political space, as well as the limited gains made by the dollar,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at the Bank of Baroda. “This will continue until the situation stabilises. The dollar can strengthen as agreements are reached on tariffs with other countries.”

Sabnavis noted that while a falling rupee may slightly increase import costs, weaker global commodity prices—particularly oil—should help offset this effect. “Investors would compare this with changes in other countries, but the impact is more of a short-term nature,” he added.

The currency’s sharp decline is linked to the latest flare-up in India-Pakistan tensions that followed from a terrorist attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam. Tensions have since escalated with India targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan, after which both countries have been targeting each other’s military facilities in different locations.

All good, but… According to Debopam Chaudhuri, chief economist at Piramal Enterprises Ltd, the rupee’s depreciation against the US dollar is driven by a stronger dollar that has been boosted by optimism over US-China tariff talks, and rising India-Pakistan tensions.

“Despite these dual pressures, USD-INR has so far held above its record low of 87, last seen in March 2025,” said Chaudhuri, adding that this would suggest the weakness in the rupee is temporary, provided the military situation stabilizes. “However, if the conflict escalates further, the USD-INR could once again fall to 87 or below in the near term,” he added.

In a report on Friday, Bajaj Broking Research said a short-term geopolitical crisis could disrupt investor sentiment and slow economic activity.

“However, India’s structural growth drivers—such as domestic consumption, digital transformation, and policy reforms—are likely to sustain momentum,” it said. “Unless prolonged instability affects key sectors, any setback would be temporary rather than a derailment of India’s long-term trajectory.”

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Abhay Tilak, director and secretary, Institute of Political Economy, said there needs to be constant monitoring of the cost of any expenses incurred in military exercises. “If the current situation escalates to a full-blown war, the impact on the fiscal deficit as well as the current account deficit would be immense,” he said. “Due to the depreciated rupee, the import bill will swell and in the face of dismal scenario on the export front, it will eventually lead to widening of the current account deficit.”

Tilak added that the colloquial theory of exports benefiting out of rupee depreciation is unlikely to be followed in the current scenario. “That is because of the global shift towards protectionist measures. Exports simply have not attracted enough demand,” he said.

Earlier this week, ratings agency Moody’s said that India’s macroeconomic stability may hold firm even if tensions with Pakistan escalate, citing India’s minimal economic relations with Pakistan. “However, higher defence spending would potentially weigh on India’s fiscal strength and slow its fiscal consolidation,” the ratings firm had said.

To be sure, the Pakistani Rupee’s exchange value against the US dollar depreciated to ₹281.15 on 9 May from ₹278.04 a year ago (10 May 2024).

Rising tensions Diplomatic ties between the two nations have deteriorated sharply since the Pahalgam massacre, where tourists were gunned down by terrorists. Following this, India suspended the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, prompting Pakistan to scrap the 1972 Simla Agreement and close its airspace to Indian carriers.

Thereafter, India struck terror infrastructure in nine cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor, which were “focused, measured and non-escalatory”, the defence ministry has maintained.

According to the Indian Army, Pakistan’s armed forces launched multiple drone and artillery attacks along the western border on the night of May 8-9, which were “effectively repulsed”.

Pakistani troops have also carried out numerous ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said. However, despite strong rhetoric from both sides and a wider military confrontation, the conflict has yet to escalate into a full-scale war.

India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed, have fought four wars—in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999—mostly over the disputed Kashmir region.

The latest flare-up marks another chapter in their long history of recurring confrontations.