Global journey lastly has surged previous pre-pandemic ranges, with complete gross bookings reaching $1.67 trillion in 2025. And the International Air Transport Association predicts that airways will carry a report 5.2 billion people in 2026—a 4.4% enhance over the earlier yr.
At the identical time, nevertheless, the United States is hemorrhaging billions in tourism income by the yr, a downward pattern many consultants credit score to President Donald Trump’s nationalistic strategy to immigration. In December, the administration expanded its journey ban to 39 international locations—most of them in Africa—that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem claimed had “been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies” on X. Even some international locations not included on the journey ban have been hit with increased visa fees and immigration processing freezes.
For some time, the administration’s basic hostility towards immigrants and guests from different nations didn’t seem to considerably influence the American traveler. But because the US tightens its visa necessities for guests, different nations at the moment are responding in variety: Over the previous yr, the US has misplaced visa-free entry to seven nations—together with Brazil, which reintroduced visa necessities for Americans in reciprocation for US restrictions. The consequence? The US passport is quickly dropping its power.
According to the 2026 Henley Passport Index launched final month, the US passport is now ranked because the tenth strongest passport on the earth with visa-free entry to 179 international locations. That places it beneath 38 different international locations—together with Malaysia, Lithuania, Iceland, Slovakia, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates—by way of the visa-free entry it grants to different locations. It’s solely a slight enchancment from final yr, when the US fell to No. 12 (with visa-free entry to 180 locations), its lowest place ever. For the prior 20 years—from 2005 up till October 2025—the US passport had constantly ranked throughout the high 10.
The UK passport—which was ranked the world’s strongest in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015—has equally tumbled down the record lately following Brexit, and is at the moment tied with Australia, Latvia, and Liechtenstein at No. 7. Singapore’s passport now holds the primary spot on the rankings, adopted by Japan and South Korea, suggesting a shift in passport energy towards Asia.
Americans have lengthy been accustomed to passport privilege, outlined as an individual’s potential to maneuver and stay globally based mostly on the nationality of their passport and the restrictions or advantages that include it. And whereas US vacationers could not really feel the results of this straight away, “Over time, Americans may find the level of travel freedom and global mobility they’ve long been accustomed to is no longer guaranteed,” says Armand Arton, CEO of Arton Capital, an funding migration agency that additionally tracks passport power all over the world.