US International Tourism Market Share Is Falling Under Trump (buzzfeed.com)

An anonymous reader writes: The United States' slice of the international tourism pie is declining, according to a new report from Foursquare that looks at data from millions of phones worldwide. The US share of international tourism dropped 16% in March 2017 compared with the previous year. And it declined an average of 11% year over year in months spanning October 2016 to March 2017, according to the report. The drop coincides with the final month of the US election, the Trump transition, and the early months of the Trump administration, which notably imposed a travel ban on people from several majority-Muslim countries in January 2017 that was eventually halted in court but is currently under appeal. Declines in tourism market share from people originating in the Middle East were more pronounced than the rest of the world, down 25% this January, along with a smaller decrease from South America, Foursquare found. The data accounts for the percentage of international tourism coming to the US and not the absolute number of tourists, but Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck told BuzzFeed News that it's unlikely tourist visits to the US increased while share declined. "I don't think you'd see a 16% decline in international market share and absolute numbers being up. I don't think that's compatible," he said. "The volume of tourism doesn't change that fast."

Comments

Good

[Anonymous Coward]

There have to be consequences when a country treats their visitors the way the US do.

Re:Good

[ganjadude]

if you actually look at the graph, it was falling prior to the election at almost the same rate, you know the time frame when we were 98% sure hillary was going to win. so lets not try and put this on trump. i know thats the popular thing to do but seriously. this is a non story

Re:Good

[I)_MaLaClYpSe_(I]

I have circumstantial evidence suggesting Trump is the reason: I would have loved to revisit the US this year but if I have to disclose my social media accounts and phone or social media login details, I will spare you from the several thousand bucks that I would have carried across the pond to you.

Re:Good

[Anonymous Coward]

Discussing Trump with a Trump supporter is like discussing a Nigerian prince with someone who just started using email and is convinced they're about become a multimillionaire.

It would have been a valid point that the graph doesn't go back far enough to rule out effects from seasonal variations - if you had made that point. But your claim that US tourism was falling at the same rate prior to the election is total BS. Yes, there was a significant drop from September to October. But the month before that it was level. And the month before that it was increasing.

I know you want to believe in your Nigerian prince. But the data does strongly suggest that Trump's policy toward foreign visitors is hurting the US tourism industry.

Re:Good

[Anonymous Coward]

I have circumstantial evidence suggesting Trump is the reason: I would have loved to revisit the US this year but if I have to disclose my social media accounts and phone or social media login details, I will spare you from the several thousand bucks that I would have carried across the pond to you.

As if this shit wasn't in full bloom with Obama at the helm. There just is less pretense now.

Re:Good

[mrvan]

Yeah. It's not just Trump, and it's been going on for longer. I've been visiting the US regularly for work and tourism for at least the past 15 years, have lived there for half a year and had an American girlfriend for a while. Although every state has the right to subject foreign visitors to whatever restrictions and procedure they please, if they don't make me feel welcome it won't help convincing me to come again and spend money. My gripes:

- The ESTA procedure, where we have to fill out some stupid web form in advance. It's not so much bother, but I'm a frequent traveller to many countries and it is easy to forget. Just give me the option to fill it in at the airport and let me run the (negligible) risk of not being admitted once I get there, or at least send me reminder emails between booking my flight and getting approval.

- With the ESTA procedure, the US is the only developed/"western" country I have to pay to get in. I expect that kind of nonsense from Turkey or Vietnam, not the US...

- Since living in Israel (a staunch US ally) for a semester and visiting tourist sites in nearby Jordan (with whom the US has friendly relations) I am frequently picked out of the line for extra questioning, often adding 30-60 minutes to my time to get through immigration. I can understand it the first time, but after having determined that I'm bona fide, just put a frigging note in my case file and leave me alone next time. Also, for me it is mosly annoying and sometimes amusing, but if I were non-white or had an arabic name I'm sure it would go from bad to worse pretty quickly.

There must be a much smarter way to reduce risk of incoming visitors without annoying legimitate travelers, but it seems that the people in charge just don't care / don't see the real economic effects of current policy.

Trump and high USD

[Anonymous Coward]

As a Canadian who vacations at least 2 to 3 times a year in the US, I can confirm that we will be curtailing our travels to not only some of the new Trumpisms we simply don't want to deal with (e.g. threat of being heavily annoyed at the border) but the extremely unattractive US Dollar exchange.

Seriously though, Florida and border states (we live next to NY and VT) will feel it the most. We have seen it in the past, and some places will get desperate enough to sell stuff at par.

On a different note, Americans, please come to Canada and spend your money here, we don't really hate you, we love your tourist dollars. Buy stuff.
thanks

Nobody wants to be treated like a criminal

[ZorinLynx]

If another country started to demand people's social media passwords, full access to phones, etc. as a possible condition to enter, I certainly wouldn't want to go there. Who wants to be treated like a criminal when they're on vacation trying to relax and have a good time?

People take their privacy seriously. The word has gotten around that the US is poking more and more into people's data when they visit. There's plenty of other beautiful places to visit in the world, so obviously tourism to the US will go down.

Treat visitors as guests and not suspiciously, damnit.

Re:Nobody wants to be treated like a criminal

[arth1]

The last few years, it has become more arduous to try to visit USA, and it's gotten progressively worse under both GWB and Obama, and there's little hope it will get better under Trump.

For the 38 countries on the visa waiver program, you now have to get a new passport with a chip, then apply electronically for an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization), pay for it through a credit card, and answer mandatory questions that you previously didn't have to answer, like your employer, name of your parents, city of birth, and the name of a U.S. contact (which you may not even have if you're a pure tourist).
And if you've been a tourist to some countries that the US doesn't like, you get denied. Even if you have absolutely no affiliation to those countries and only like to travel the world.
And that's before you get to the airport and is subjected to the rather unfriendly border checks.

I tell my European friends to think twice before visiting. And no, they can't use me as their U.S. contact, because I don't want to be added to the database for 15 years and get goonies at my door if someone with a similar name as them ever does something bad.