The United States is seeing a decline in tourism, though media outlets blaming President Donald Trump are ignoring that the drop preceded his presidency.
Travel to the United States increased between 2010 and 2015, but began declining in 2015. The trend continued in 2017, and now media outlets are branding the steady decline as the “Trump slump.”
The U.S. share of the international travel market declined from 13.6 percent in 2015 to 12.9 percent in 2016. By 2017, it had dropped to 11.9 percent, back to levels not seen since 2010, according to U.S. Travel, a nonprofit group representing the American travel industry.
At the same time, global long-haul travel increased by 7.9 percent. The roughly 7.4 million fewer tourists traveling to the United States means the economy has lost $32.2 billion in traveler spending and 100,000 fewer jobs created, according to the group.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!