Trump-wary foreign tourists give America a break

The US summer holiday season has officially begun. Missing this year: the Canadians, Europeans and other foreign travellers.

Crowds are not a problem ... A tourist takes a photo at Bryce Canyon National Park in Bryce Canyon City, Utah. Picture: Bloomberg

The US summer holiday season has officially begun. Missing this year: the Canadians, Europeans and other foreign travellers who have flocked to America’s tourist hot spots in recent years.

“There used to be thousands of people from Canada. They would give me Canadian dollars and I would change it at the bank,” said Omar Tallat, who runs a corn dog stand near Times Square in New York. “This year, business is very bad.”

About 1.9 million foreigners ­arrived at the US’s main airports in the past four weeks, down 6 per cent from the same period last year, according to data from Customs and Border Protection. Airline bookings data for the summer suggest things won’t be picking up soon. Flight bookings to the US from Europe are down by about 12 per cent through August. San Francisco, Washington, and Los Angeles are seeing even larger ­declines, according to an analysis of online travel agency booking data from Cirium.

Overseas travellers say they are swapping US vacation plans for trips to Europe or in their own countries. Some cite the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and reports of foreign visitors being detained or ­deported from the US. Others say they want to signal their discontent with the White House’s policies, echoing boycotts of American-made products by ­Canadians and Teslas in Europe.

“There’s not a lot politically I can do, but what I can do is not spend my money in the US,” said Marc Toews, a 53-year-old Canadian truck driver. He was planning a road trip through the US that would take him to North Dakota, a Chicago Cubs game, and the Statue of Liberty.

“I was very excited about it. I’ve been talking about this trip for a few years,” he said.

He said President Donald Trump’s comments about annexing Canada changed his mind. ­Instead, he plans to do a road trip through Canada.

Canadians are the largest group of international visitors to the US, historically making up around a quarter of arrivals. They are now the largest weakness. Air travel from Canada to the US in April dropped 20 per cent, while land crossings dropped 35 per cent, according to the Canadian government. Flight bookings to the US for the summer are down 22 per cent compared with last year, according to Cirium’s data, with Los Angeles and Miami down by a third.

In Plattsburgh, New York, about 40km south of the border with Canada, John Parmelee, the manager of restaurant Naked Turtle, said he has seen a drop off in Canadian visitors since opening at the start of May.

To try to counter the trend, Mr Parmelee recently put up a “Bienvenue Canadiens!” sign in front of the restaurant and plans to put up a giant Canadian flag next. He is also considering offering discounts to Canadian visitors.

“We are very concerned about what’s ahead of us,” he said. “It’s a bit analogous to Covid. We don’t know where this is going to go.”

The travel and tourism industry makes up about 3 per cent of overall US gross domestic product, and foreigners only contribute a sliver of that. A pullback would likely have a marginal impact on wider economic activity, according to a JPMorgan analysis.

But some areas could get hit hard. That includes towns near the Canadian border like Plattsburgh and beach towns along the Jersey Shore or along the south Atlantic, or in Maine, where generations of families from Canada and elsewhere have summered.

The tourism industry is dominated by small businesses, which are less able to absorb swings in demand, according to Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at Tourism Economics.

Tourism Economics initially expected the US to see a 16 per cent rise in international visitor spending in 2025. It now expects it to fall by about $US8.5bn ($13.18bn), a decline of roughly 5 per cent. Many businesses say there is little they can do to reverse the tide. Some are hoping domestic tourism can fill the gap, but Americans have grown concerned about the economy and are also scaling back their holiday plans. Foreign tourists also are more ­lucrative, as they tend to stay for longer and spend more than Americans.

David Byrne, a retired executive who lives in London, had expected to spend about $US7000 for a trip to New York for the US Open Tennis Championships in late summer. But he said he called it off, citing what he sees as antagonism from the Trump administration toward visitors. He’s booked a two-week trip to the Greek island Santorini.

“We end up spending quite small fortunes on holidays,” he said. “We exercise our choice by going to other places. We’ll spend our money in Europe.”

Scott Mills, general manager at the Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, California, said international visitors were down about 30 per cent this year. Bookings for the coming months have fallen, too. The hotel counts Britons, Australians and Canadians among its customers.

“Part of it is the politics, part of it is the fear of visa issues, and part of it is the optics of the fires,” said Mr Mills, referring to the January wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes.

Achim Diergarten, a 67-year-old lawyer who lives outside of Munich, had planned to spend about two weeks driving around the West Coast with his wife this summer. Mr Diergarten is critical of Mr Trump on social media and cancelled his trip after reading about Europeans who were deported or detained in the US and had their phones searched. “The US is off limits for me for at least the next four years,” he said.