US agents say Trump Slump is real
Revised data from the US Travel Association paints a more pessimistic picture of inbound tourism, showing the Trump Slump is a reality.
The Association has revised downwards initial data from its Travel Trends Index results.
The biggest monthly declines came in February 2017, down 6.8%, after the initial executive order banning travellers from certain Middle East countries, and continued its downward spiral in March (8.2%).
“Sure enough, the international travel segment has been far weaker than what was initially shown,” said David Huether, US Travel’s senior vice president for research.
The revised figures for the Travel Trends Index come after collating data from several other sources including the US Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office, IATA, OAG, and Sabre.
Declines were recorded in four of the seven months data so far available.
There was a minor increase in arrivals in April although that has been attributed to the busy Easter holiday period.
“Inbound travel to the US already went through one ‘lost decade’ after 9/11,” said US Travel CEO Roger Dow.
“It took a sustained national policy effort to return to the pre-9/11 level of travel exports, which only happened last year. If we don’t want to give back all of that progress, the time to act is now.”
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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