Metropolitan Opera Attributes Drop in Ticket Sales to Falling Tourism Numbers

Ticket sales fell immediately after the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, according to Met General Manager Peter Gelb

Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, has noted that ticket sales for performances at the Met have fallen in tandem with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — which coincided with lower-than-usual numbers of tourists visiting New York.

During this time, the Met sold 72% of its seats, which is slightly down from its projection for the year — though nonetheless on par with its numbers from the 2023/24 season. 11% of those sales were to international patrons, and this figure, too, was lower than the Met’s projection of 16%.

This falling trend in international visitor numbers mimics that noticed elsewhere in the city, with New York City Tourism & Conventions reducing its 2025 international visitor projection by 17% in the month of May 2025.

Longer timescales are at play, too: the Met's ticket sales to international buyers constituted about 20% of its total sales prior to the pandemic.

Gelb also noted that the economic uncertainty that the world has been experiencing in recent months was impacting consumer behavior.

"We were on track to continue to improve," Gelb told AP News. "We were disappointed by the sales in the last two months of the season — our projections were much higher and I attribute the fact that we didn’t achieve our sales goals to a significant drop in tourism."

"It’s unfortunate, but this is [sic] the times in which we live."

"We were able to sell an equal amount of tickets the last year, but there were more discounted tickets. This really was the result of the last two months of the season."

"The stock market jumping up and down made people feel insecure," he added. "In one week we saw an enormous decline in our advance for next season. Then it picked up again."