Skift Take

Washington’s work to reduce visitor visa wait times is paying off as the US travel industry is poised to hit its goal ahead of schedule.

Rashaad Jordan

The US is we pace to attract 90 million visitors by 2026a year ahead of the State Department’s goal, according to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

Raimondo discussed the projected visitor boom at a press conference Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where they both touched on the economic benefits of tourism to the US and the sector’s ongoing recovery from the pandemic.

“By next year, we’re projecting that the industry will be fully recovered from Covid,” Raimondo said.

However, inbound visitor spending, when adjusted for inflation, is not expected to make a full recovery until 2026. The US had roughly 66.5 million international tourists in 2023up from close to 51 million the previous year.

Blinken said the State Department has made significant progress in reducing wait times to obtain visitor visas, which has been a priority for the US travel industry as the country prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

“Wait times to get visas are down, down by nearly 60% since the acute phase of the pandemic,” Blinken said at Tuesday’s press conference. “Today, the average wait time is under 60 days for a first-time visitor visa interview.”

Blinken added the State Department issued 8.5 million visitor visas during the 2024 fiscal year, the highest figure since 2016, when the department issued 6.9 million visitor visas.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma said during the Skift Global Forum in September that the department was seeing “off the charts” request for US visitor visas but that it was largely able to get visa wait times back to pre-Covid levels.