After a record-breaking 2024, New Mexico braces for a drop in tourism

ABQ Trolley Co. is having its slowest summer in recent memory, said owner Mike Silva.

The company offers guided tours via trolley and party bike of Albuquerque’s cultural offerings, and after a healthy 2024, Silva says business has grown quiet.

“Last year, I think there was a rebound… I was chalking it up to somewhat returning to normalcy,” Silva said. “This year, it’s been the slowest July and into August that we’ve had since pre-COVID.”

New Mexico had a record-breaking 2024 for tourism, according to a report released this month by the New Mexico Tourism Department.

Visitors from across the world made 42.6 million trips to the Land of Enchantment, where they spent $8.8 billion — the highest numbers ever recorded. But this year, things are far slower, business owners and tourism officials say — the result of political and economic uncertainty.

“Obviously, we recognize that this year is not last year,” said state tourism spokesperson Cody Johnson. “It is a reality that there has been a softening in the tourism space across the country.”

The visitor economy sustains 95,219 jobs in New Mexico, 8.1% of the state’s workforce, according to the report, and tourism accounts for 4.3% of New Mexico’s economy.

International travel to the United States is in decline, according to the U.S. Travel Association. The nonprofit reported international visits to the U.S. were 14% lower in March 2025 than during the same period last year.

In the past at ABQ Trolley Co., it was not uncommon for half of the trolley to be full of European or Australian tourists in town to see Route 66 or filming locations from “Breaking Bad,” Silva said. These days, he says trolley tours with international guests are “nonexistent.”

“I don’t feel like people feel like they want to come to America. They don’t feel welcomed here,” Silva said.

International tourists made up only 1.8% of the total visitors to New Mexico last year, though international tourism has been growing. The number of foreign visitors to New Mexico rose by 10.4% last year and 34% the year before, according to the report.

New Mexico won’t feel the decline in international tourism as acutely as other states, Johnson said. However, New Mexico’s international visitors spend nearly five times as much per trip as domestic travelers, according to the report.

Tourism officials say some Americans are opting not to travel internationally, either, due to cost or political turmoil.

“I just think there’s concern about how we’re being perceived on an international basis,” said Randy Randall, director of tourism for the city of Santa Fe. “I think there’s a sense that Americans may not be quite as well respected internationally as they have been in the past.”

Randall said Santa Fe’s lower-priced hotels have reported fewer bookings this year, while more upscale hotels are showing an increase in occupancy, indicating that more affluent travelers have chosen to stay nearby, while cost-conscious travelers may have opted not to travel at all.

Visitor trips to Taos — one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations — have dipped slightly over the past two years, said Rima Krisst, Taos’ director of marketing and tourism. Krisst hopes a renewed push for domestic travel will draw more weekend visitors from New Mexico and nearby states, which already account for about two-thirds of the town’s tourism.

“Americans are still eager to travel, but many have shifted their preferences to staying closer to home,” Krisst said. “Road tripping is back in a big way, and people are venturing to neighboring states for vacations that might cost less, are closer to home, (and) might give them flexibility in their itinerary options and travel duration.”

Dawn and Kevin Ritton, who visited Old Town Albuquerque from Newport News, Virginia, on Tuesday, said they were being more selective about their travel this year than in years past.

“This is our big one for the year. Before, we could do little jaunts here and there,” Dawn Ritton said. “We have to pick and choose more than we had to.”

Like other parts of the state, Albuquerque is also seeing a decline in tourism so far this year. Hotel occupancy in the city is down 3.6% since last year, according to Tania Armenta, president and CEO of Visit Albuquerque. Roughly 4.5% fewer people have flown through the Albuquerque International Sunport compared to this time last year, said Sunport spokesperson Diana López Rabadán.

Old Town Albuquerque, a popular spot for tourists, is seeing fewer visitors, too. On Monday, the shopping area was a “ghost town,” said Edward Candelaria, who co-owns the Breaking Bad Store in Old Town with Marq Smith.

Last year was profitable, Smith said, but this year, spending at the store is down 5%. Foreign tourists usually love “Breaking Bad,” they said, though lately they’ve been seeing fewer of them.

“When we get customers in, the biggest thing they say is, ‘We weren’t sure if we wanted to come to the United States or not, because it’s not really tourist friendly right now.’ So that could definitely be a reason why we’ve seen a drop-off,” Smith said. “But the people who didn’t come, we can’t ask them why they didn’t come.”