US travel hurt by politics
US President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on China and restrict travel from certain countries are hurting tourism and business visits to the US, the country’s travel industry says.
Roger Dow, president of the US Travel Association, said Trump’s policies and rhetoric are steepening a drop in the US$2.1 trillion (NZ$2.89b) industry that began in 2015.
That was when a stronger dollar made international visits more expensive, economic growth in several countries was slumping, and the rise of discount airlines in Europe made travel to other destinations more affordable.
The US’s share of world travel has fallen to 11.9 per cent from 13.6 per cent in 2015, representing about 7.4 million visitors, US$32 billion and 100,000 jobs, he added.
‘‘They’re not getting it,’’ said Dow, referring to the Trump administration.
‘‘No one down the street understands that this is a job creator. And this is such lowhanging fruit and we’re working our darnedest to get to them because this plays to everything they want to do.’’
With China set to become the largest market for travel in the US in the coming years, the industry is anxiously watching the outcome of Trump’s push to enact tariffs on a range of Chinese goods.
Dow estimated that the number of Chinese visitors to the US surged to 3.5 million last year from fewer than 300,000 a decade ago.
And the number of visits is poised to double in the coming years. ‘‘The opportunity is huge.’’
‘‘China will take over in the next four or five years; it will be bigger than the UK and Japan combined,’’ Dow said. ‘‘If China turns around, that could be a big problem.’’
Trump has also sought to enact travel restrictions on Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and also blocks people from North Korea and a handful of Venezuelan government officials.
While those countries don’t typically send many visitors to the US, it’s Trump’s rhetoric about travel that matters, Dow said.
- The Washington Post