Trump slump? Signs of drop in tourism to US

new york — The US Travel Association on Thursday said the Trump regime’s immigration policies are hurting tourism.

The nonprofit industry organisation said in a statement that there are “mounting signs” of “a broad chilling effect on demand for international travel to the United States”.

The US Travel Association’s statement added to a growing chorus of concern from the travel industry over the impact of Trump regime policies on tourism.

Earlier this week, the tourism agency NYC & Company revised its 2017 forecast to predict a drop in inbound international travel to New York City, with 300,000 fewer visitors compared to 2016. It would be the first drop in visitation to New York since the start of the recession in 2008.

The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau told the Philadelphia Inquirer this week that it had lost out on an international meeting with 3,000 attendees that decided to go to Canada or Mexico instead.

And ForwardKeys, which tracks travel bookings, reported in February that international trends in bookings to the US are down 6.5 per cent compared with the equivalent period the year before.

“It’s known as the Trump Slump”, travel guru Arthur Frommer wrote on Frommers.com. He called it “an unintended consequence of the Trump-led efforts to stop many Muslims from coming to the US,” resulting in “a sharp drop in foreign tourism to our nation that imperils jobs and touristic income”.

US Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said there’s concern that many international travellers have interpreted Trump’s policies as “wanting to discourage international visitors generally, not just those who pose a security risk”.

Trump’s initial ban on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen was suspended following a court order, but a revised executive order on visas and immigration is expected soon.