After several years of growth, South Florida’s two major airports are seeing a drop in number of passengers.
For travelers, that could mean a break from swelling crowds and lines. It’s also a sign that tourism in the region is softening with an impact on the economy.
During the first half of 2025, which ended June 30, the number of passengers passing through Miami International Airport decreased when compared to the same period last year. That hasn’t happened since 2017, excluding the pandemic year of 2020.
About 28.5 million travelers went through MIA, a 1.4% decline from the first half of 2024. That may seem like a tiny drop. But it adds up to 400,200 fewer people, equivalent to crowds at more than five years of Art Basel and four Coconut Grove Art Festivals.
MIA’s current pace would keep it from achieving what would be its fourth consecutive yearly record for passenger volume. Data on tourists who came to South Florida via land transportation in the first half of the year isn’t yet available.
The airport numbers, provided by MIA officials to the Herald, come as other parts of the tourism economy in South Florida face difficulties. Restaurants in Miami-Dade County say they’re having one of their worst summers, the Herald reported last month.
Hotels are conducting large-scale renovations, reducing number of guest rooms for traditional business visitors and adding more luxury offerings like private condos. Places like the Mandarin Oriental on Brickell Key say their average daily rates, occupancy and revenue made per room have been less than what they wanted in recent years, and so instead are betting big on the ultra-wealthy, something Miami has never lacked.
Impact at Miami International Airport
At MIA, both domestic and international travelers notched decreases. Total domestic travel number of passengers decreased by 1.6%. International arrivals fell by 1.7%.
Airport CEO Ralph Cutie said he’s not too worried because those numbers and trends are in line with other U.S. airports.
From January to March 2025, total passenger traffic at U.S. airports fell by 1.3% compared to the same period in 2024, the Airports Council International, an organization of airport officials, said in a report this summer.
Cutie said despite national trends, MIA “is still just 1% behind last year’s record-breaking pace and continues to generate strong demand.” That includes airlines increasing number of seats on flights to and from MIA.
American Airlines has its largest summer schedule in its history out of MIA and continues to be the airport’s largest carrier. But it saw 2% fewer passengers in the first half of this year.
The bigger concern is that among MIA’s top 10 international markets in 2024, five of them saw declines. Colombia, which was first last year, notched a 12% decline in number of arrivals at MIA. The Dominican Republic, third last year, fell 20%. Canada registered a 8% drop.
For airlines, while Air Canada saw a drop of 6% in number of passengers, Colombia’s Avianca and Chile’a LATAM Airlines Group had double digit declines.
And this all came in a year the region hosted high-profile sports events that should have helped it boost its travel numbers, including the NCAA Playoff Semifinal Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in January and the FIFA Club World Cup over the summer.
Why the drop in visitors? There’s no one reason
Canada has typically been the Sunshine State’s top source of foreign visitors. But as the Miami Herald reported in March, fewer Canadians are spending money in South Florida.
Threats of tariffs on Canadian products, talk of new registration requirements for Canadian travelers, or even annexing the country as the 51st state, made many Canadians reevaluate if they want to spend their money in the United States. Hollywood, with small motels catering to Canadians, is feeling the drop. On July 31, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase tariffs on Canada from 25% to 35%.
For Colombians, Dominicans and other Latin Americans, Trump’s decrees on immigration and intervening in private sector businesses are making visiting the U.S. less attractive.
Data released for the first half of 2025 showed an 8.2% decline in international overnight arrivals compared to the same period in 2024, year-on-year, according to a report by research firm Tourism Economics. The company projects the U.S. will see a decline of $8.5 billion, or 4.7%, in visitor spending this year.
Visitation is down “mostly sharply from Canada and Western Europe, declining 20.2% and 5.8%, respectively,” the company noted in May.
“Several factors continue to erode international sentiment toward the U.S., including political posturing, and policy announcements under the Trump administration, such as proposed ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs targeting long-standing trade partners,” according to Tourism Economics.
The decline in arrivals to the U.S. during the first half of 2025 “is the apparent negative consequence of a mix of Trump administration policies and statements that have shifted sentiment and raised concerns among many potential travelers,” wrote Tourism Economics.
It cited adversarial trade negotiations, attempts to override other countries’ national sovereignty and arbitrary immigration rule-making.
Impact at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
In Broward at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, total passenger volume in the first half of 2025 fell by 11.1%, to 16.8 million. It had been increasing since 2018, excluding 2020.
International number of passengers, while a smaller part of business there, fell by 21.5%.
A key factor driving that was the “decline in Canadian visitation to the U.S. overall in response to socio-economic and political policies/trends,” Arlene Satchell, spokesperson with the Broward County Aviation Department, said in a statement to the Herald.
Relocation of most of Southwest Airlines’ international service to Orlando in June 2024, months-long stopped service to Haiti due to civil unrest and safety concerns since November 2024, and temporary suspension of El Al’s service to Israel also contributed to the decline, she said.
Looking ahead
But there’s reason for optimism.
JetBlue Airways said in July it would add service this year between FLL and four new cities: Norfolk, Virginia, Tampa, Atlanta and Austin, and increase flight frequency to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Raleigh-Durham.
At MIA, one South American country escaped the downward trend. Passenger volume on Aerolineas Argentinas increased by 21%. The airport’s best performer: Emirates which had a 59% increase.
Meanwhile, MIA has embarked on $9 billion modernization program, which will accommodate more passengers in the terminals.
Yet there are challenges for South Florida tourism.
Hotels have seen some softening for several years, since the second half of 2023, the Miami Herald reported. The region faces much greater competition now from Europe, Asia and its own cruise industry.
Unlike immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is wide open and South Florida faces competition from all over the globe.
