Already perceived as an expensive, and in some cases dangerous, destination, the recent belligerence of President Donald Trump, aggressive behaviour by Border Force agents and erroneous deportations has seen demand plummet.
The US tourism industry could be approaching crisis point amid a drastic fall in international bookings, local media reports indicate.
There has not only been a huge fall in bookings from neighbour Canada after Trump's stated desire to make that country "a potential 51st state".
Bookings have dropped by an estimated 70% tourism magazine Travel and Tour World reported.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has reported an overall fall of 17% across Europe in March compared to March 2024.
Denmark saw a reduction of more than 30%, no surprise after Trump's threats to wrest control of Danish autonomous territory Greenland. Other European nations, including Germany, Ireland, Spain, and Norway, saw decreases of more than 20%.
Hotel giant Accor has reported its bookings for European visitors to the US have fallen by 25%..
The Financial Times newspaper in the UK quoted Paul English, co-founder of influential travel website Kayak, as saying that "In just two months [Trump] has destroyed the reputation of the US, shown one way by diminished travel from the EU to the US."
He warned: "This is not only one more terrible blow to the US economy, it also represents reputation damage that could take generations to repair."
He warned: "This is not only one more terrible blow to the US economy, it also represents reputation damage that could take generations to repair."
The result is that hopes the US travel industry had in a full recovery to 2019 levels of travel bookings this year have officially been dashed, said a leading economist quoted by Hotel News Now.
"Our pre-inauguration forecast expected international travel to nearly fully recover in 2025 to 2019 levels. We're now pushing that out to 2029," said Adam Sacks, president at Tourism Economics.
"Now we're looking at a full 10 years between pre-pandemic and what will be full recovery. And, of course, that comes with significant economic losses."
"Our pre-inauguration forecast expected international travel to nearly fully recover in 2025 to 2019 levels. We're now pushing that out to 2029," said Adam Sacks, president at Tourism Economics.
"Now we're looking at a full 10 years between pre-pandemic and what will be full recovery. And, of course, that comes with significant economic losses."
Image: The Statue of Liberty, New York. Jorge Ibarra Hernandez, Scop.io
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