Gateway cities in the U.S. are expected to see differing levels of international demand this year based on their primary source markets, according to experts.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Hotel News Now podcast, Tourism Economics Senior Economist Daryl Cronk said cities that are more apt to see travelers from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean are well ahead of their counterparts that rely on Asian travelers.
The silver lining is, it seems to be a matter of when, not if, Asian travelers will return to the U.S., Cronk said.
"Like the other markets, they're following the same pattern of regional short haul then long haul," he said. "Asia-Pacific to the U.S. is truly long haul — a much further travel distance than from Europe or Central America. It's just taking them a little longer to build back up to those long-haul trips."
Emmy Hise, senior director of hospitality analytics at CoStar covering the Western U.S., notes San Francisco continues to be the key market that waits on the return of Asian travelers, but that's not the market's only problem.
"They're the least recovered in terms of both international inbound and occupancy, in general," she said. "However, when you look at the share of demand from international — the share of overnight visitors for total hotels occupied room nights in 2019 and the trailing 12 months 2024 — that share is actually even. What that tells us is there's more going on in San Francisco than just the international recovery."
She noted one of the most interesting markets is Honolulu, which has seen a significant drop in the share of travelers who come from Japan but still remains one of the highest occupancy markets in the U.S.
Part of the issue there might be the weakness of the yen compared to a strong U.S. dollar, which is conversely fueling more U.S.-to-Japan travel.
Cronk said exchange rates have had a noticeable impact on international travel patterns in other regions, as well.
"The strong U.S. dollar made it very advantageous for Americans to travel to Europe" last summer, he said.
For more from HNN's conversation with Daryl Cronk and Emmy Hise about international travel, listen to the podcast above and subscribe to the Hotel News Now podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts.