Oregon has a lot to offer tourists — the Pacific Ocean, the Cascades, waterfalls, high deserts, some of the nation’s best food, and tax-free shopping.
Yet Oregon visitor spending has stalled over the past three years, according to a new study, failing to keep pace with inflation. Rising fuel prices, political tensions and the state’s changing climate are dimming the outlook for Oregon’s tourism industry.
Travel is a major part of Oregon’s economy, generating $14.6 billion in spending during 2025. That’s according to an annual study of the state’s travel industry by Dean Runyan Associates for the state’s tourism agency, Travel Oregon. The industry generated $741 million in state and local taxes, the study found, from lodging taxes and personal income taxes paid by people in the industry.
While travel spending in Oregon rose by $192 million last year, it’s just a 1.3% increase from 2024. Travel-related spending rose three times faster nationwide.
The sluggish growth in travel spending is another sign of Oregon’s difficult recovery from the pandemic era. And it may not get any easier.
“The industry, and Oregon specifically, continue to face several headwinds,” said Todd Montgomery, hospitality management professor at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend.
“Travel is effectively one of America’s largest export industries,” Montgomery said, “and states like Oregon have been affected by weaker international visitation.”
Canadians represent the largest share of Oregon’s international visitors, 29%, according to a separate study Travel Oregon commissioned last year. But the number of Oregon visitors from Canada was down 14% since 2019.
The number of overseas visitors has fallen 13% overall since 2019, according to last year’s study, which blames “political uncertainty and global trade tensions.” The study doesn’t see any recovery in Canadian visitor numbers in the offing, but it predicts overseas visitors will bounce back by the end of the decade, buoyed by travelers from India, South Korea, Brazil and elsewhere.
That study on international tourism was completed last year, before the U.S. war in Iran sent gas prices spiraling upward. Montgomery says Oregon is only beginning to see that impact.
“Travel is one of the first categories households scale back when uncertainty increases,” he said, with low- and middle-income travelers pulling back fastest.
And Montgomery warns that Oregon’s changing climate may be making it a less attractive destination for outdoors enthusiasts.
“By most accounts, this past winter was challenging,” Montgomery said, noting the state’s historically low snowpack and the weak season on the ski slopes.
“Snowpack also affects summer travel because of its relationship to wildfire conditions and smoke,” he said.
August used to be among Central Oregon’s strongest months for tourism, Montgomery said. But he said that’s no longer true.
“Many travelers have become hesitant to make advance bookings for late summer,” he said, “because of the uncertainty surrounding wildfire smoke.”
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