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Eugene Airport arrivals and hotel bookings fell in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year. Harsh rhetoric and tariff policies from the Trump Administration may be keeping some travelers away. But one Florence bed and breakfast owner says inflation is the real culprit.
Sarah Raleigh would typically be busier in May. With summer and the tourists it brings right around the corner, reservations at the Edwin K Bed & Breakfast she owns with her husband in Florence’s popular Old Town might already be fully booked through the season.
But 2025 has been far from typical.
“It’s definitely different this year. It’s slow,” Raleigh said. “Everywhere it’s slow. It’s not just us.”
Bookings since late last year have been between 33 and 50 percent lower than usual, the lowest since she bought and reopened the property in 2021. Low enough that she’s in the middle of rebranding the century-old bed and breakfast as a boutique inn and slashing prices to attract more customers.
“You kind of have to change what you do to stay relevant, and adapt quickly,” she said.
Businesses like Raleigh’s may be among the first in Lane County to feel the effects of economic headwinds beyond their control.
From persistent inflation to uncertainty driven by the Trump Administration’s on-and-off tariff policy to President Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric toward Canada and reports of international travelers being detained at U.S. borders, the local effects may be starting to show up in hard data.
Confirmed bookings at local hotel and short-term rentals were down 3.4 percent from January through March compared to the same period in 2024, according to data from Travel Lane County. Hotel revenues fell about 6 percent as hotel operators cut room rates.
Air travel slows
Over the same period, about 1,500 fewer passengers arrived at the Eugene Airport compared to last year, airport data show. The year-over-year decline in the first quarter was the first for the airport since 2021, when it plummeted by more than one-third as the COVID-19 pandemic raged and vaccines were still unavailable. This year’s decline is far more modest, at just under 1 percent.
Local tourism officials say they’re keeping an eye on the data and not panicking. Much of the first-quarter drop for hotels came in January and February, while March and preliminary April data appear stronger, Travel Lane County spokesman Andy Vobora said.
“What you’ll see once we get the April report is a pretty good jump up, I’m anticipating,” Vobora said.
Data on overseas visitors is difficult to parse out from Travel Lane County’s overall tourism figures. But Portland International Airport, the nearest airport for overseas travelers coming to Lane County, saw a 6.2 percent drop in international arrivals during the first quarter compared to last year.
Tourism ebbs and flows in Lane County, Vobora said, and activity is heavily dependent on University of Oregon athletics and major track and field events.
“We hear the national discussion, where the nation is going and some of the impact with overseas travel affecting the U.S., and we have heard and seen some tracking numbers indicate that some of those are going to be down,” he said. “But for us, I think we’re a bit insulated from that. We have such a stellar track and field season coming up through the end of July, coupled with our traditional leisure travel being good.”
At least one anecdotal data point suggests some of President Trump’s rhetoric toward Canada has affected the region. Travel Lane County was supposed to host a Canadian travel writer for several days around February. But the writer canceled the trip right around the time President Trump began antagonizing Canada with tariff threats and pledges to annex the country.
A recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council projected a 7 percent, or $12.5 billion, decline in international travel spending in the U.S. this year.
“I’m hoping that some of these (tariff) discussions continue to come to agreements,” Vobora said, adding that the travel organization won’t have a firm grasp on international travel to the region until later in the summer, when tour operators ramp up bus services from Eugene to surrounding areas and the coast. Those tours lean heavily on international travelers.
“If suddenly they don’t show up for tours later in the year, we’ll be able to say it did have an effect,” he said.
For all of the focus on the president’s policies and rhetoric, Raleigh says more basic economic factors are driving the downturn, which for her started late last year.
“I think it’s inflation, honestly,” she said. “People are struggling to pay their bills, so (traveling) is a luxury a lot of people can’t really afford.”
