Trump’s immigration, trade policies could cost tourism industry $12B: report

The US economy could lose out on billions of dollars this year as President Trump’s policies hamper the tourism industry, according to a report.

The administration’s mass deportation efforts, costly trade war, anti-LGBTQ legislation and, most recently, a travel ban on 12 countries have hammered foreign arrivals and spurred anti-US boycotts.

The backlash from foreign visitors is expected to cost the US economy a whopping $12.5 billion this year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

However, the organization’s estimates have been vastly off the mark in the past. It predicted that growth in the country’s travel sector would slow significantly in 2017 after Trump’s surprising first election victory, but the number of visitors actually jumped amid a worldwide upswing in tourism.

Though Trump has made clear his frustrations with the trade deficit, the projected decline in tourism would only worsen the issue, as spending by foreign visitors in the US is counted toward our exports, according to a Bloomberg report.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Foreign arrivals to the US by air have plunged 2.5% so far this year through April compared to the year before, according to the US International Trade Administration.

The largest drop came in March, when arrivals fell 10% after Trump unveiled hefty tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico.

Those tariffs, combined with Trump’s call to annex Canada as the 51st state, have prompted frustrated Canadians to call for a travel boycott and to stop buying US products.

Figures on Canadian tourism have not been released by the US yet, but Canada’s statistics bureau said trips across the border tumbled 15% in April for the third straight month of decline.

Research firms have scaled back their expectations for US tourism this year since Trump took office. Tourism Economics now expects just 66 million visitors – above previous expectations of 79 million – as policy changes prompt travelers to book trips elsewhere, according to Bloomberg.

The largest reversal will likely come from Canadians, with visits expected to plunge 20% this year, followed by a nearly 6% drop from western Europe, Tourism Economics said.

Air carriers like Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa have started to cancel long-haul flights to popular US cities while travel sites like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia have warned that their earnings could be hit hard this year.

At least a dozen foreign nations have advised their citizens to use caution when traveling to the US due to the risk of being detained by immigration officials. 

Others have warned transgender and nonbinary citizens that they could run into trouble using their passports after Trump signed an executive order recognizing “male” and “female” as the only two sexes.

Global air bookings to the US from May 1 to July 31 are 11% lower than the same time last year, according to Tourism Economics.

And it’s the first year that spending by overseas visitors is expected to fall since the pandemic, with a projected 7% dip to less than $169 billion, according to WTTC.

The US is the only economy expected to suffer a tourism revenue decline this year out of the nearly 200 economies tracked by the WTTC.