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By Jasmine Laws
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The U.S. could lose millions of tourists if the Trump administration goes ahead with proposals to include a review of social media account information as part of visitor visa applications, experts told Newsweek.
The proposed policy would apply to visitors obtaining travel authorization to the U.S. via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which includes citizens from 42 countries, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and many European countries.
These visitors would be required to hand over their social media history, along with other key personal data, like email addresses, phone numbers and places of residency over the past five years as well as close family members' names and birth dates.
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"There is evidence that the proposed ESTA changes combined with broader U.S. entry policies would deter millions of international tourists if implemented," Lori Pennington-Gray, director of the Richardson Family SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek.
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Why It Matters
The proposal comes as part of President Donald Trump's wider clampdown on immigration and travel into the U.S., tightening border security.
In his January 2025 Executive Order "Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats," the president states that to protect Americans, the country must be "vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests" and that those people must be identified "before their admission or entry into the United States."
While the move may be seen by the administration as a way to more closely monitor who is coming into the country, industry experts are warning that it could be a step too far and that fewer international visitors will feel comfortable visiting the U.S. over concerns about data and online privacy.
What To Know
According to the proposal filed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Federal Register in December 2025, the policy is being put forward to comply with Trump's January 2025 Executive Order on tightening border security.
CBP said that it was proposing to add "social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application. The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years."
On ESTA applications, the section on entering social media information has been marked as "optional" since it was added in 2016. If the new policy passes, the section would become mandatory.
The proposal is open for public comment through February 9, and as the period nears its end, industry experts have been sounding the alarm over what the policy could do to U.S. tourism and, consequently, its economy.
Recent forecasts from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) suggested that under a "high-impact scenario" the U.S. could receive about 4.7 million fewer international arrivals, a 23.7 percent reduction from ESTA countries in 2026 compared with a business-as-usual baseline.
Florida, California and Texas are the states "arguably most exposed to changes in international travel," Muzzo Uysal, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told Newsweek.
The WTTC also surveyed a number of ESTA travelers and found that 66 percent were aware of the proposed change, which the council said "suggests impacts on travel sentiment and behavior will be felt quickly if implemented."
The survey also found that about 34 percent of respondents reported being somewhat or much less likely to visit the U.S. in the next two to three years if the changes were introduced.
The results of the survey suggest that "policy signaling alone is enough to impact negative travel sentiment," Pennington-Gray said. "This aligns with tourism risk perception research showing that uncertainty, inconvenience and perceived risk can suppress demand even in the absence of the actual policy implementation."
It could also have ripple effects beyond visitor numbers, experts warned.
"A drop of several million international visitors would have a major economic impact on the U.S.," Uysal said.
The WTTC's predictions also indicate that, as well. They estimated that the loss of millions of tourists could lead to a $15.7 billion loss in visitor spending, with total losses to the tourism economy potentially reaching $21.5 billion.
"These losses would not stop at hotels and airlines; they would ripple through restaurants, retail, transportation and entertainment," Uysal said.
The council also forecasted that it could impact as many as 157,000 American jobs, three times the average number of jobs created in the U.S. each month in 2025—50,000 jobs were created on average each month in the U.S. last year.
"At the same time, the U.S. already runs a growing travel trade deficit, and losing high-spending international visitors would further widen the gap, weakening the country’s overall economic position," Uysal added.
What People Are Saying
Lori Pennington-Gray, director of the Richardson Family SmartState Center for Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek: "When entry becomes more difficult or expensive, some travelers simply choose not to come. The World Travel and Tourism Council has shown that added hurdles can reduce demand and make a destination less competitive. Also, destinations can face an image impact where these policies can make a destination seem less welcoming or predictable. Travel doesn’t stop; it just shifts to destinations where entry is perceived as easier."
Muzzo Uysal, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told Newsweek: "Beyond lowering visitor numbers, this policy can change how the U.S. may be perceived from a welcoming place to one that feels closely ‘monitored.’ There is no question that extra screening can slow visa approvals and border entry, make travelers anxious about their online activity, and may discourage open expression. If visiting the U.S. feels too complicated or intrusive, many tourists, including World Cup visitors, may choose Canada or Mexico instead."
What Happens Next
The proposal also comes at a "sensitive moment," Uysal said, as the U.S. is currently preparing for "major tourism events like the 2026 World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary."
"I think that the policy could dampen expected economic benefits and signal a broader shift toward more intrusive digital and ideological screening, even affecting professional and academic travelers," he added.
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