International travelers cite US politics
NEW YORK - Some international travelers are citing politics as a factor in whether to visit the U.S. this year, according to survey research by the tourism marketing agency Brand USA.
The findings add to concerns about the tourism industry. Other new data show that a slowdown in international arrivals to the U.S. began last spring and continued through August, likely due to the strong U.S. dollar and sluggish economies elsewhere.
Politics a concern
A survey for Brand USA asked travelers from 11 countries how the political climate influenced the likelihood of them visiting the U.S. in the next 12 months.
Those saying the political climate made them less likely to visit increased from December to February. Travelers from Mexico registered the most concern over political sentiment as a factor against visiting. Travelers from Canada, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom and France registered moderate sensitivity over political sentiment.
Travelers from India, Japan, Brazil and South Korea were the least sensitive to the U.S. political climate as a factor against visiting, but their likelihood of visiting also decreased over the three-month period, just less dramatically than the others.
Chinese travelers were the only nationality in the survey that said the U.S. political climate made them more likely to visit.
Arrivals data
International arrivals to the U.S. last year experienced the first sustained decline since the U.S. economy began to recover from the recession, according to newly released and revised arrivals data from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Travel and Tourism Office.
Between April and August of 2016, international arrivals to the U.S. dropped nearly 4 percent compared with the same five months of 2015, declining from 17.8 million to 17.1 million, the data show. Prior to the second quarter of 2016, international arrivals to the U.S. had climbed every quarter year-over-year since late 2009.
It takes months for arrivals data to be compiled from all U.S. international airports and border crossings, so whether the downward trend continued into fall 2016 and winter 2017 won’t be clear for some time.
Booking data
Brand USA economist Carroll Rheem said preliminary data on airline bookings to the U.S. for 2017 shows continued growth.
Rheem cautioned that it’s “hard to tell” what the impact of the political concerns showing up in surveys might be. Arrivals data shows what’s already happened, but surveys merely hint at future behavior.
Brand USA adjusts its marketing strategies in response to survey trends to make travelers feel secure about concerns that might prevent a visit. One strategy involves inviting “influencers” — individuals with large online or social-media followings — to visit the U.S. and then tell stories about their (hopefully positive) experiences.