The U.S. has always been a top tourist destination for international travelers. But it seems like Trump's presidency is causing a dwindle in the country's tourism revenue. Visitors aren't just as keen on traveling to the U.S. as before.
Experts are calling it 'Trump Slump', and over millions of dollars' worth of losses in tourism revenue have been attributed to Trump's influence. The Independent UK reports that the week after Trump's controversial travel ban was proposed on January 27, international travel to the US lessened by 6.5 percent.
Online searches for American flights also dropped significantly in the same week, and the days that came after only worsened the poll. Trump's travel ban hinders travelers from a number of Muslim countries and Syrian refugees from entering the U.S., sparking outrage from netizens worldwide.
According to Travel Pulse, the World Economic Forum's 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report shows that the United States dropped two spots from being the most tourist-friendly destination in the world, now ranking sixth unlike in 2015 when the country ranked 4th. The United Kingdom and Japan bested the U.S. this year.
As calculated by the Global Business Travel Association, over $185 million in business travel bookings were estimated to be lost from January 28 to February 4. Experts predicted more declines in tourism in the country this year as well, as much as 4.3 million fewer visitors and a staggering amount of $7.4 billion in revenue losses.
Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia CEO, have mentioned that the tourism industry of the U.S. is in for "a turbulent year amid falling international interest in visiting the country." And even though the revised travel ban of Trump has been halted by the federal court, travelers are still not clamoring to visit the country.
The American travel industry is really in a slump nowadays, and it seems that they are well aware of the current predicament. Something has to be done before the decline in tourism lessens even more and the billion-dollar tourism industry of the U.S. may fall off the ranks.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
