Late spring and early summer are generally the busiest times to visit America's top tourist cities, like New York, Orlando, and Las Vegas, as visitors Travel from around the world to catch the sights that they may otherwise only see in the movies. This year could see a major slowdown in these areas that are usually so attractive to international travelers with what travel experts have coined the "Trump Slump."
Since the Trump inauguration on January 20th, it is estimated the U.S. travel industry has seen a revenues decrease by $185m, as travelers have canceled bookings or started to look elsewhere for summer vacation plans.
Travel searches down for U.S. cities
The U.K.-based travel blog Kayak released information this week showing a significant drop in searches for flights to major U.S. cities in the first quarter of this year. Orlando, which hosted 1.7 million visitors from the U.K. alone in 2015, has had a reported 58% decline in flight and holiday searches this year. On the west coast, both San Diego and Los Angeles have seen a major decreases in flight searches of over 30%; even stalwart tourist destination Las Vegas is down significantly, with a 36% drop in views. The blog notes an sharp increase in eastern European and northern African destinations like Kiev, Ukraine and Tangiers, Morocco.
The travel app Hopper released a more detailed analysis of flight search demand, looking at a number of countries who normally see a high amount of travel to the U.S.
during the first half of the year.
Hopper found an overall 17% drop in international flight searches to the U.S. since Trump's inauguration, with a sharp decline following the announcement and implementation of his "travel ban" Executive Order. The only country showing a significant spike in interest in travel to the U.S. is Russia, as the country has seen a massive increase of 88% more flight searches in the time since Trump took office.
Comparatively, flight searches to the United States only dropped 1.8% during this same time last year, indicating this change in travel preferences may be more than a seasonal shift.
Hotel prices drop across the country
Although a sharp drop in international tourists could have a disastrous effect on the hotel and service industry in major destination cities, the news isn't all bad.
Americans looking for domestic vacation ideas this summer may be able to find some great deals while supporting local economies. Kayak has already seen hotel prices drop in Las Vegas by 39%, which New York is down by nearly 35% over last year. And without the traditional summer revenue bump brought in by foreign travelers, expect to see savings offered by tent-pole industries like live theatres and amusement parks in these tourist hot spots.
Will you be hoping to save a few dollars on travel this summer, thanks to the Trump Slump?