Dhaka, Sept. 9 -- A recently introduced $250 "visa integrity fee" for travelers heading to the United States is raising concerns within the international travel sector, already under pressure from declining visitor numbers and increasingly restrictive U.S. immigration policies.

Official figures show that overseas arrivals to the U.S. dropped by 3.1pc in July compared to the same period last year, with just 19.2 million foreign visitors recorded.

The downturn marks the fifth consecutive monthly decline in 2025, frustrating industry hopes that this year would finally see international tourism recover to pre-COVID levels-last recorded at 79.4 million arrivals in 2019.

The sustained fall in numbers is being attributed in part to the hardli...