Will local tourism take a hit?

We’re not breaking news to say that there are millions of reasons to visit Rhode Island, and New England in general.
People flock here throughout the year, every year, because of our history, our top-notch beaches and protected natural resources, our amazing restaurants, and to watch our world-class professional and collegiate athletic programs.
As we cover in this week’s paper, there are some enormous events looming on the horizon that signal big bucks and big opportunities for our local hospitality industry. Even though it will mainly be held in Foxboro, the potential ancillary benefits that Rhode Island could experience from New England-based FIFA World Cup Round 32 matches is tantalizing, to say the least, for our local hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. World-class events like this provide crucial tax revenue to our coffers and keep our cities and towns financially healthy and on the map.
Tourism remains one of Rhode Island’s most important industries, supporting over 86,000 jobs and bringing more than 28 million visitors in 2023. Those visitors and those jobs generated close to a billion dollars in state and local tax revenue.
In other words, keeping Rhode Island (and the country itself) a desirable place to travel is simply paramount to our continuing success.
And this is why we will be keeping a close eye on tourism numbers throughout the coming months and years.
As economic volatility continues to surge – with the price of groceries and the cost of living seeing no relief – and some early signs already being reported that people elsewhere are opting not to take vacations to the United States amidst the bombastic rhetoric of the Trump administration, we find it concerning and worthy of more analysis as we move forward.
A lot of people are hurting financially. The retired couple from Kansas that was pondering taking a flight into Green to check out their Jayhawks as part of March Madness might be clutching their wallets a little tighter this year, and for years to come. The family from Canada or Mexico who were interested in checking out Newport for their annual seaside vacation might think twice considering the political climate of the moment.
These are not unreasonable concerns in modern times. Canadians have been urged by their former prime minister to not visit the United States, and travel to the U.S. from other countries is down over 2% from last year’s February numbers.
And while that might seem minuscule, at a time when declining revenue sources and the increasing cost of just about everything from health-insurance premiums to goods and services has put significant and constant burden on municipal budget cycles, even a slight percentage loss to our tourism industry could spell fiscal disaster for the state and for residents who foot the bill through necessary tax increases to make up for it.
Rhode Island must remain a welcoming place to all who wish to visit. That much, at least, remains within our control.