PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Tourists from countries around the world might soon have to hand over their recent social media history before they’re allowed to step foot in the United States.
“International travel is responsible for more than $3 billion, with a B, in visitor spending,” Garrick Taylor with Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association said.
While tourists from Canada and Mexico make up the biggest number of international visitors to Arizona, Germany, France, Italy, and South Korea are among the top countries that people visit from.
With marquee events like the World Cup and Olympics coming to the U.S. in the coming years, the opportunity for international tourism, even in Arizona, will be high.
“Everybody has the potential to win with a big event like the World Cup,” Taylor said.
But there’s concern that a new proposal by the Trump administration could slow down some of that international tourism.
In a notice posted on the Federal Register on Wednesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Trump administration is proposing changes to the current travel authorization process for dozens of countries.
Currently, citizens or nationals from 42 countries can visit the U.S. for up to three months as long as they have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the Visa Waiver Program.
But the changes to ESTA could include going to an all-mobile format, requiring the last five or more years of social media history, as well as emails used the last decade, phone numbers and personal information for immediate family members.
“Nowadays, 99% of us are all leaving some sort of digital trail behind as we move through our day. And that’s what CBP is looking to be able to obtain,” said International Security Consultant Karl de la Guerra.
In the notice, CBP said the changes are to comply with an Executive Order President Trump signed in January ‘Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and other National Security and Public Safety Threats’.
“I don’t believe this policy and this new regulation is trying to limit anyone’s free speech. People are welcome to say what they want to say. But if you are saying something that is against America or something that leads America to believe that you’re bringing violent tendencies here with you, those are the people that we don’t want here,” said de la Guerra.
Taylor hopes whatever policy is put in place will be done thoughtfully for fear it could drive some tourists who pose no national security threat away because of the extra potential complications in the process.
“International travel is made with discretionary dollars, and those dollars can go to lots of other destinations,” he said.
Here’s a list of the 42 countries currently under the Visa Waiver Program:
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brunei
- Chile
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
