With U.S. travel rules changing or unclear, and widespread questions around the world about the new U.S. administration, U.S. tourism numbers are in what some commentators are calling a "Trump slump."
Whether for political reasons or just uncertainty over whether they're welcome as visitors, fewer people are searching for or booking flights to the U.S. in the past few weeks. While some is obvious—sharply lower from Muslim-majority countries whether or not they're on the list—there have been sharp drops from other areas as well.
The search engine Kayak reports that UK searches for flights to major U.S. destinations are down by as much as 58% for Orlando. Other cities are showing declines of 32 to 52%, and NYC&Co., New York City's official tourism office, has predicted 300,000 fewer overseas visitors this year than last year, after years of steady rises.
Overall, the flight app Hopper shows a drop of 17% in searches from overseas since the inauguration compared with the weeks before; last year the same periods showed a drop of only 1.8%. In Hopper's stats, 94 or 122 countries showed a drop, with China and Russia among the few with more searches.
While airfares haven't changed much at this point, Kayak says it's having an effect on hotel prices, with drops of 39% average in Las Vegas and 32% in New York. It's possible that dropping prices may bring more people into the market, but revenues will still be lower.
And where are the numbers rising? Among the beneficiaries, at least in searches from UK and Europe, are South American destinations. Mexico, which just declared a record of 35 million international tourists last year, is expecting more. And, there's always that "other America," just up north. Canada is seeing increasing numbers of visitors, and is promoting its 150th anniversary this year heavily.
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