Nevada Senator Sounds Alarm on Tourism Hit from Trump Tariffs
U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto fired off a letter to six Trump administration heavyweights, flagging big worries about how new tariffs and executive actions are shaking Nevada’s tourism industry.
A Call for Clarity
Sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, Treasury’s Scott Bessent, Transportation’s Sean Duffy, Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the letter demands a plan to ease the economic squeeze, as tourism’s 16% slice of the state’s $23.6 billion economy.
Cortez Masto didn’t mince words. She called out a laundry list of moves, tariffs on allies, aggressive Customs Service tactics, frozen federal funds for parks and transit, and government layoffs—that she says are spooking travelers.
Tourism, pumping 2.5% into national GDP and backing 15 million U.S. jobs, is wobbling, with experts predicting a 9.4% drop in international visitors and a $22 billion spending dive in 2025.
“The lack of transparency is a problem,” she wrote, slamming murky orders and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency for dodging accountability.
Why Nevada’s Nervous
Nevada’s no stranger to tourism’s power: 300,000 jobs, including 60,000 union gigs, depend on it. Las Vegas alone welcomed 40.8 million visitors in 2024, but Cortez Masto sees trouble brewing.
February’s numbers showed a 10% dip in U.S. air travel spending and 6% less on hotels year-over-year. “Room bookings and business trips are down,” she noted, tying it to tariffs and border policies that make travelers think twice. With Canada’s visitors at risk: 14,000 jobs and $2.1 billion in spending could vanish if their travel drops 10%, the stakes are high.
The senator’s pushing for answers. She asked for hard data: how do tariffs hit tourism’s GDP share? What’s the state-by-state fallout? Are there plans to lure back international fans or keep events like Las Vegas’ Formula One race thriving? She also wants smoother visa processes to welcome foreigners safely. Cortez Masto’s letter presses for a clear fix to keep Nevada’s casinos, shows, and hotels humming.
Beyond the Letter
Cortez Masto’s not stopping at words. She pitched teaming up with tourism advocates to appoint a Commerce assistant secretary for travel, a role Congress funded last year but sits empty.
She leaned on a U.S. Travel Association report for ideas, like beefing up security without scaring off visitors. “We need solutions, not silence,” she wrote, a nod to Nevada’s 2024 $91 billion tourism impact.
Her earlier clashes, like grilling Trade Rep Greer, show she’s tracking this fight close, frustrated by vague replies.
Other states feel the pinch too. Florida’s $125 billion tourism haul and New York’s $80 billion rely on the same global crowd now dodging tariffs’ ripple effects.
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