Gun violence, safety concerns keep these visitors from the US

Christina Kooi left America due to arms violence. Born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States at the age of 10, the 38 -year -old child left the country in the midst of the ongoing school shootings in 2017.

In his statement to the USA Today, he said, ım I couldn’t imagine that I had children and could not send them to school in the United States, ”he said. He traveled internationally before he returned to the Netherlands country. Ohio makes annual trips to visit his family, but he is paying attention to spending a lot of time in the state.

Now with two small children (2 and 4), many firearms are concern. “I will be afraid to be in someone’s house to be in the house for a long time or to get a pistol from the bedside table of a well -intentioned neighbor,” he said.

Ohio’s arms laws – without permission – Also pause him. Orum I don’t like to know that someone I am in with or Walmart had a gun in his pocket. ” Novel, her husband feels similarly, added.

Kooi is not the only person. Some travelers minimize the time spent in the United States or completely avoid arms violence and other safety fears. Here is the reason.

‘Scary for us’

Cheryl Jessamine and his partner planned to make a RV trip on the coast of Oregon in May, but after the president Donald Trump He won the 2024 election, they canceled. Alberta, Canada, Pair, was concerned about their safety as a couple of the same sex as the federal government Targeting the LGBTQ communityand reports of tourists detained by immigrant officers.

Weapon violence was another factor. “For us, frightening,” said 58 -year -old Jessamine. “I’m not saying that this is not here either, but at least more (US armed violence) has been discussed in the media.”

Data from the National Travel and Tourism Office 1.8 million drop In the first half of the year compared to 2024, visitors from Canada. Increased political tensions Between the US and Canada.

Only in September, the USA, Murder of Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and a school shooting Colorado takes place on the same day.

They strengthened Jessamine’s feelings. “He didn’t help the reason, I will put it in this way,” he said. “It didn’t help us want to cross the limit again.”

They made a September trip to Mexico for their 30th birthday. “He originally wanted to go to New York, and we can’t,” he said.

Are tourists run away from the USA?

The tourism economy, which provides industrial research, initially expected 10% growth this year. Reviewed estimates now put this figure decrease by 8.2%. July reports associate with a policy and rhetoric mixture from the Trump administration, which changes how potential travelers perceive to come.

Industrial Research Tourism Economy Director Aran Ryan, “I think we need to be sensitive to us and reminds us that the elections of travelers,” he said. “Concerning them about where they are going can cause them to move to another place – so I think we should usually be more stable as a target.”

Those who came to the US international have fallen by 3% every year as of June, National Travel and Tourism Office. Those who came abroad fell 1.2%alone.

According to the tourism economy report, the decrease in international visitors will be felt most in some cities close to the northern border. Seattle is at the top that lists a decrease of 26.9% from 2024 – almost all of them are attributed to Canadian visits.

Data on the feeling of international visitors around the weapon violence are particularly low. However, a survey of 6,000 travelers in Southeast Asia said that more than 90% affected the decision of visiting arms prevalence in America.

“Nevertheless, 56% of those who were assigned by CNBC Travel and conducted by Market Research Company Milieu Insight said that they will visit the USA in the next few years” Outlet reported. Among the participants who visited the country before, he said, 74% of them perceived weapons violence today as a greater problem in the United States than in the past. ”

USA Travel Association, USA Today, the regional analysis of visits from abroad, “Most of the major regions outside North America showed that last year’s volumes have shown that there are few important contradictions,” he said.

How common is the shooting in the USA?

In 2025, 302 mass shoots in the United States, Arms Violence Archive. The organization describes a collective shooting as a shooting with four or more deaths except the shooter. In 2024, there were 503 and represented a decline from 659 in the previous year, but still in 2015 than 332.

A 2021 Analysis By the University of Washington, the University of Health Metriks and Evaluation, the US found that the US had a relatively high level of weapons violence compared to other high -income countries, and the firearm murder rate was 4.5 per 100,000. On the contrary, this number was 0.6 in Canada and 0.2 in the Netherlands.

Other countries have warned for their citizens about armed violence under the guidance of the US travel.

Canada, “the incidence of mass beats, mostly emerged in the wounded,” he said. WebsiteFor example. “Although tourists are rarely involved, there is a risk of being in the wrong place in the wrong time.”

Like others Australia And EnglandSimilarly, the US talks about “weapon crime ında in its travel recommendations.

Koi and his family are planning to take about a month to travel by Camper Van next summer. His dream was to travel from states like Arizona and Nevada in the Western USA, but her husband said, “He feels that he was really disturbing and insecure.” Instead, they go to Portugal and Spain.

A possible trip to Jessamine and Alaska for his family is in the air.

“I think we don’t want to spend our travel dollars in the United States at the moment, just – how we perceive what is important for people in the United States is not compatible with who we are.”

Contributor: Eve Chen, Usa Today

Nathan Languages ​​is a consumer travel reporter for Nashville -based USA Today. You can reach him at ndiller@usatody.com.

This article was initially published on the Usa Today: Some visitors spend less time in the USA among armed violence and security fears.