Fabio Frustaci/Eidon Press via ZUMA
Yesterday I griped about a story that wildly misrepresented the alleged effect of President Trump’s travel ban on the tourism industry. However, it’s worth pointing out that there does seem to be a milder version of the story that’s actually true:
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%….On the web, flight searches for trips heading to the U.S. out of all international locations was recently down by 17%….According to the Global Business Travel Association, in only a single week following announcement of the ban against certain foreign tourists, the activity of business travel declined by nearly $185 million.
International tourism contributes about $100 billion to the US economy each year. If that declines 6.8 percent, that’s $6.8 billion. If you figure the Trump Slump is a temporary thing, maybe it’s more like $3 billion or so.
In other words, not earth shaking on a national level. Still, if Trump’s immigration policies are going to cost us $3 billion, he’d better figure out how he’s planning to make that up. A few hundred jobs at a Carrier plant aren’t going to come close.
