The war on tourism

Thanks to Trump, fewer people want to visit the US.

Credit: @davidmorehouse https://www.threads.com/@davidmorehouse/post/DSF5HSalRRK?xmt=AQF0xUPZbBEZQ8CDG858xl6tMI7XRRRRr2bvs0PNGbr3xA

Donald Trump has launched a war on tourism. He’s spent so much time insulting our friends and neighbors that the number of people visiting the US from Europe and Canada has plummeted. Now, he wants to require tourists to submit their social media histories for the past five years, any email addresses or phone numbers they’ve used during that same period, lists of relatives, and even biometric data like DNA and facial scans. People will just stop coming.

For me, it’s a bit personal. I have a Swedish son-in-law who will never submit to such onerous measures. I assume my daughter, who has dual citizenship, will be exempt. Who knows, though? Regardless, I’ll probably be spending more money in Europe than they will here if the travel restrictions go through.

The new rules are not a done deal, so maybe they will just disappear like so much else that Trump proposes. Still, he’s done serious harm to our relations with other countries and made the US a less desirable tourist destination. His insistence on demeaning and insulting other countries is causing real damage to the US tourism industry and to areas dependent on foreign tourists.

Fortune magazine reports that the number of Canadian passenger vehicles crossing into the US is down 20% over last year with some states seeing a decline as high as 27%. Businesses along our northern border are getting hammered. Trump’s insults and tariffs are having a lasting impact that many business owners fear could be permanent.

Canada, on the other hand, is seeing a tourism boom as visitors from Europe and Asia are flocking to our northern neighbor to avoid onerous US travel restrictions and misguided policies. Nobody wants to visit an unstable country with an even less stable leader. Tourists are discovering other great destinations where they feel more welcome.

Overall, Trump’s rhetoric and policies have damaged the tourism industry. According to the U.S. Travel Association, “Travel to the United States is projected to reverse course and fall to just 85% of 2019 levels in 2025.” With US residents still visiting other countries, Trump has managed to create travel trade deficit of almost $70 billion.

Trump is lying or denying his way through the crisis. In a delusional rant, he claimed that several European countries considered him the leader of Europe. In another one, he complained that immigrants to the US come from “shithole” countries and wondered why we couldn’t have some from Norway or Sweden. Well, people from Norway and Sweden now consider the US an asshole country and don’t want to visit here, much less emigrate.

Give Trump credit. He’s a driver of people. In elections, he drives MAGA to the polls to vote for him and Democrats to the polls to vote against him. He’s driving tourism in Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Asia as travelers look for alternatives to the United States for vacations. He’s driving so called “shithole” countries into the arms of the Chinese. And he’s driving the US tourism industry into the ground.