According to the Global Business Travel Association the number of international visits to America fell by around 5% creating a loss of £140million a week to the US economy. During the first six months of 2017 arrivals went down by 4% as per the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Trump Slump or the fall in visitor numbers was due to the President’s outspoken views and attempt to prohibit travel from seven Muslin-majority countries to enter the US.
Tom Garzilli, chief marketing officer for Brand USA, the country’s tourist board stated that that Trump was not deterring visitors and the decline was not because of him.
They found that this was not true of all over the world is it really transcends politics, it transcends the issues of the day.
He further stated that people were travelling and wanted great experiences and America offered these things and they were educating and inspiring.
National Travel and Tourism Office in America recently revised its 2017 figures which mentioned that the country saw a growth of 0.7 percent from 2016 to 76.9 million, although different authorities reported fall in international arrivals to the US.
The figure in 2016 was 75.9 million showing a fall of 2 per cent on 2015. This was the first decrease since 2009.
As per a poll conducted during the start of the year 56 per cent of respondents said Donald Trump puts them off visiting the US.
Garzilli said that they felt like they were moving ahead, growing in certain markets and will further witness complete growth in the coming years.
The world really loves America, it wants to know America and come. Their job is to inspire them into action providing tools to plan.
New routes to secondary cities will help in opening up the country to British visitors like the British Airways’.
