The United States
keeps expanding its “avoid travel” advisory,
paradoxically, numerous countries are releasing advisories warning their citizens against visiting the US.
A few weeks ago, authorities updated their travel advisories to include both North Korea and Burkina Faso as destinations American travelers should avoid.
The State Department includes four different travel alert tiers:
- Level 1: Take usual safety measures
- Step 2: Be more vigilant
- Level 3: Reconsider travel
- Level 4: Avoid traveling
The risk assessment for North Korea and Burkina Faso has now been elevated to Level 4.
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The U.S. has imposed “Do Not Travel” advisories, advising citizens to stay away from these areas.
due to significant dangers like armed conflicts, terrorism, and pervasive criminal activity. These advisories form part of the Department’s initiatives to keep citizens informed regarding possible safety and security threats overseas.
Journeying to North Korea has been advised against because of “the persistent significant danger of being arrested, detained for extended periods, and facing arbitrary incarceration.”
Traveling to Burkina Faso is not recommended due to heightened risks of “terrorist activities, criminal acts, and abductions.”
The latest update increases the list of countries U.S. citizens should not visit to 21. Some regions within Mexico have received Level 4 advisories, but overall, Mexico maintains a Travel Advisory level of 2—”Be extra cautious”—which has stayed consistent over recent years.
These announcements follow increasing worldwide strains and escalating security conditions across multiple areas.
These are the nations where the U.S. government has advised against traveling:
- North Korea
- Burkina Faso
- Yemen
- Iran
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Congo Democratic Republic
- Afghanistan
- Lebanon
- Central African Republic
- Belarus
- Iraq
- Ukraine
- Venezuela
- Haiti
- Libya
- Somalia
- Russia
- Burma
- Mali
- Sudan
In the meantime, various Canadian carriers are reducing their flight paths to key U.S. urban centers as travel agencies report that Canadians are cancelling trips to the U.S., largely because of escalating friction with the Trump administration. Following a notable decline in both recreational and professional travel originating from Canada to America, Air Canada, WestJet, Porter, and Flair plan to cut back services to locations such as San Francisco, Miami, New York, and Washington, according to TTW. Conversely, these airlines are boosting connections to Europe where there’s robust interest coupled with a friendlier geopolitical atmosphere.
Data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicates that arrivals at the northern border decreased by 12.5% in February and by 18% in March. This reduction in cross-border traffic signifies the most recent evidence suggesting that Canadians are shying away from visiting the U.S., partly due to Donald Trump’s trade policies and his contentious remarks implying that Canada should be considered as America’s “51st state.”
The Flight Centre Travel Group Canada has noted that Canadian business trips to the U.S. decreased by 40% at the beginning of 2025. According to Tourism Economics predictions, there will be a drop of about 15.2% in international travelers visiting the U.S. this year. However, despite these statistics showing fewer visitors, President Trump stated to ABC News’ Terry Moran on Tuesday that tourism “is way up” and claimed it was performing very well.
Nevertheless, recent choices made by prominent airlines indicate a different scenario. In the past year, Air Canada expanded its operations between Canada and the U.S., boosting the frequency of flights connecting Montréal–Trudeau International Airport with San Francisco International Airport, which now operate up to three times per day during summertime.
Nevertheless, with the decrease in demand, the airline will switch back to operating just one daily flight. This decision follows cuts to services on routes connecting Vancouver International Airport and Miami, Houston, and Washington.
Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s Executive Vice President for Revenue and Network Planning, stated that the company is “reallocating capacity to stronger segments,” particularly highlighting growth in the European sector. Meanwhile, rival carrier WestJet has recently decided against launching a planned service from Vancouver to Austin.
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