Though they may differ as to the wisdom of the move, the travel press and most travel experts are of one mind: They are currently drawing attention to an unintended consequence of the Trump-led efforts to stop many Muslims from coming to the U.S., pointing to a sharp drop in foreign tourism to our nation that imperils jobs and touristic income.
It’s known as the “Trump Slump.” And I know of no reputable travel publication to deny it.
Thus, the prestigious Travel Weekly magazine (as close to an “official” travel publication as they come) has set the decline in foreign tourism at 6.8%. And the fall-off is not limited to Muslim travelers, but also extends to all incoming foreign tourists. Apparently, an attack on one group of tourists is regarded as an assault on all.
As far as travel by distinct religious groups, flight passengers from the seven Muslim-majority nations named by Trump were down by 80% in the last week of January and first week of February, according to Forward Keys, a well-known firm of travel statisticians. On the web, flight searches for trips heading to the U.S. out of all international locations was recently down by 17%.
A drop of that magnitude, if continued, would reduce the value of foreign travel within the U.S. by billions of dollars. And the number of jobs supported by foreign tourists and their expenditures in the United States—and thus lost—would easily exceed hundreds of thousands of workers in hotels, restaurants, transportation, stores, tour operations, travel agencies, and the like.
Apparently this is what the term MAGA means.
Literally everything this asshole touches turns to shit.
I predicted this. Wait until summer when Disney is empty, beaches are open and empty, and hotels are not booked. Trump has angered almost everyone, and why spend your money here when there are plenty of lovely vacation spots in Europe and Great Britain? The only thing these guys understand is $$$$, so when their voters are seeing far less during tourist season and beyond, perhaps they will finally understand how deadly this crew is for the US.
ReplyDeleteI once had a chance to visit Morocco. It was amazing. But the taxi to the airport took a side road instead of the highway and I found myself standing in a concrete room with a single dangling lightbulb and handing over my passport. I never expected to be seen alive again, but somehow I did arrive safely at the airport.
DeleteI expect I'd feel that same mix of puzzlement and fear if I were a tourist visiting the US right now. Hell, I live near an airport and any day now I expect to be stopped by a customs/border patrol thug.
I feel for the foreign students who work in the US all summer for college money.
I did too. How will it recover? Even impeachment can't restore trust in a GOP government. America, the "land of the free" -- free to do what? Not feel safe?
DeleteLand of the Free -- means just about anybody wearing a badge is free to do whatever he/she wants under the guise of "well, maybe, possibly the book, phone, pack of gum, pen, toothpick, wheelchair or prosthetic could be a lethal weapon." The rest of us are free to make one call to our lawyer, if we're lucky.
DeleteI don't know but less airlines in the air would not be so bad. Do you realize the amount of toxic shit coming out of each airline. I was just at a beautiful resort and every 5 minutes an airline flew over. Everything was great except that. The consumers are stuffed in these toxic airlines and stuffed in tight seats in concert venues, stuffed in tight parking spaces all so the most money can be extorted from the consumer. So I like the idea of improve the land infrastructure such as high speed rail service, bury all above ground wires, limit airlines routes and amount of airlines in the air. Stop toxic fumes while pumping gas, And limit all toxic fumes in all types of fuel and energy. Radiation is another dangerous toxic unregulated cancer causing man made danger.
ReplyDeleteHow did you get to the resort?
Deletehttp://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2017/03/why_are_businesses_still_so_optimistic_about_donald_trump.html
ReplyDeleteHRC"aid that gender issues and women’s rights should be “not just a nice thing to do on the margins somewhere deep in the bowels of the State Department but front and center.”
ReplyDelete“Women are not inherently more peaceful than men. That’s a stereotype. That belongs in the alternative reality.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/31/hillary_clinton_dinged_trump_in_a_georgetown_speech.html
The US travel industry was looking at a 3% increase in international tourism so this is more like a 10% decrease.
ReplyDeleteThe country with the most tourists is Mexico with Canada coming in second. We know why they're not coming. But you can be sure that NATO bill and other insults from Trump are impacting tourists from Europe.
People don't travel to counties if they don't feel safe. Trump has made foreign tourists feel unsafe traveling to the US.
It will only get worse.
Plenty of businesses and jobs rely on tourism. I know I won't be traveling to any red states any time soon if ever.