Last years drop in international tourism to the United States translated to decreases in the Pikes Peak region as well.Now, as the industry hopes for a rebound this year, rising gas prices from the war with Iran threaten to send fewer road trippers on holiday.There's just no confusion about the global world that we live in right now for travel, said Doug Price, president and CEO of Visit Colorado Springs (Visit COS).Price pointed to wait lines for international travelers to get visa waivers along with fees being imposed on foreigners wanting to visit.According to the World Travel and Tourism Council and Oxford Economics, inbound visitors to the US dropped by about 6% in 2025, the first year of President Trumps second term, compared to 2024.We were down 22% from our visitors from Canada into the United States, said Price. That has a ripple effect on everybody that, coupled with political tension and the six week government shutdown that we had in the fall, for a city like Colorado Springs that depends a lot on government travel, had an impact.Torie Giffin, owner of the boutique Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort near Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods, said she felt the 2025 impact.We were expecting to have one of the best years ever last year and we ended up being down about 15% for the year overall, said Giffin. It was a real tough and unexpected blow to be down so much. We've really worked on building up our brand and we're like the little independent hotel that could.Giffin said the resort was coming off awards the year prior from the Gazette newspaper like Best Hotel. She had hoped that would translate to a great 2025.And when it came to international travelers, Giffin said they used to have bookings split about 80% from the US and up to 20% from abroad. She said international travelers never truly rebounded post-COVID, but even then, she said recent bookings are over 90% from the US.Now, with the war against Iran ongoing, gas prices have begun sharply increasing, which has created a new concern for the tourism industry.As a historic motor court, we really depend on those car travelers to come visit us, said Giffin. Most of our travelers we're hoping are coming by car, so higher gas prices could be a little scary.Its something that Doug Price with Visit COS is wary of as well.One of the things that's important to travel is gas prices, said Price. We're probably a little too soon to be able to forecast the summer, but if gas prices continue to go up the way they have, that will have an impact on travel as well, with people probably wanting to stay a little closer to home and not making the longer road trips.According to price tracking site GasBuddy, the average gallon of gas in Colorado increased over 109 cents from the average a month ago as of Sunday. Whether or not these high gas prices will remain for the busy summer travel season remains to be seen.Matt McClain, a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, said it would be irresponsible to try and forecast what the future will hold with an ongoing conflict and volatile situation.I could throw a dart and hope to hit anything at this particular point, and it very well may happen, said McClain. There doesn't seem to be a great solution right now to getting the Strait of Hormuz open and safe for passage. And until that happens, we got a problem, and it's a very serious one.President Trump called on other nations to help police the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend as Iranian threats on the vital shipping lanes has led to sharp increases in the global oil markets.But AAA, which releases travel forecasts throughout the year, is more bullish than others on the summer travel season.Skyler McKinley, the regional director of public affairs for AAA, said Americans tend to view travel and vacation as a right and not a privilege.When it comes to taking vacations, they still go on vacations, but how they spend their money changes, said McKinley. They might have plans to travel at a set time of year. They will still travel over that period because they so cherish that ability to travel. They might spend less out to dinner. They might go on fewer excursions. They might go on cheaper excursions. They might pick a more budget-friendly hotel. So, travel continues.But yet another hiccup that might impact tourism is Colorados extremely dry and warm winter. McKinley said fears that the state might face an extensive summer wildfire season could keep travelers away.Right now we're not looking at a lot of green pastures for summer, and in fact, fire risk might be very high in the high country, he said. And so those are the broader considerations I could see affecting Colorado's travel economy right now. It's not that gas prices are high. I don't want to drive through or to Colorado. I might say, Hey, Colorado is a tinderbox. I don't know if I should go now.As Colorado gets further into 2026, there remains optimism in the tourism industry that numbers can rebound and get a positive bounce from the America 250th and Colorado 150th celebrations, along with the World Cup.Doug Price, with Visit COS, said those major events and milestones could and should provide a boon to the tourism business. Even though the World Cup wont host any matches in Colorado, he said he hopes it will still bring curious travelers through the Centennial State.As I'm talking to hoteliers, depending on the type of hotel, advanced bookings are not great, but one of the things we are counting on is the FIFA World Cup will bring people to the United States, said Price.And yes, we are counting on the US 250 Colorado 150 celebration for the whole year, but particularly this summer as being something that will get people back traveling and enjoying our great state and our great city, he said._______Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less