Can US tourism survive Trump's policies?

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless nobody is staying in Vegas. Some of America's biggest travel hot spots say they saw a big downturn this summer, and President Donald Trump may be to blame.

July tourism figures for Las Vegas "dropped in just about every metric," said The San Francisco Chronicle. The number of visitors fell by 12%, and hotel occupancy was 7.6% lower. Vacation travel has "flagged across the country and internationally" in the wake of Trump's new tariff and border policies. And American travelers are now "sticking to budgets and shortening trips" as they tighten their belts. This dynamic poses a challenge for other tourist hubs. "If the house can't win in Vegas, where can it?"

America's tourist economy is "heading in the wrong direction," Julia Simpson, the president and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, said to CNN. Cities like Seattle have lost out on their usual influx of Canadian tourists, who are angry about Trump's trade wars and threats to turn their country into a U.S. state.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Other international travelers are begging off American trips, citing fresh fears of "being questioned at the border" or a desire to avoid a new $250 "visa integrity fee," said CNN. "The U.S. government is putting up the 'closed' sign," said Simpson.

What did the commentators say?

The recent closure of a dozen Miami restaurants is a "flashing red light for the U.S. tourism industry," said Andrés Oppenheimer at The Miami Herald. Trump's "inflammatory rhetoric" and policies like "higher U.S. visa fees" and "stricter travel rules" are scaring away "millions of foreign tourists."

It's a uniquely American problem, as tourism is increasing around the world while declining domestically. Maybe the tourism sector will rebound. But if the president sticks to his policies, Miami will likely see "fewer foreign tourists and more 'for rent' signs on many restaurant doors."

Trump's trade wars will have "devastating consequences" for tourism, Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) said at USA Today. Tariffs "harm the economies of our neighbors," making it less likely their citizens can afford to go on vacation, and they also raise the costs of "airline tickets, food and accommodations for visitors."

It does no good to eliminate taxes on tips for hospitality workers, as Trump and Republicans have done, "if no one is there to tip in the first place," said Titus. Stay on this path, and there will be "permanent damage to the travel and tourism industry."

What next?

The drop in tourism to the U.S. may last beyond this summer, said The Associated Press. "The sentiment drag has proven to be severe," said the travel research firm Tourism Economics. One exception to the trend is that Chinese tourism to the U.S. has actually risen this year, "confounding the expectations of many pundits," said the South China Morning Post.

More Americans are flying out than foreign visitors coming in, and the gap is increasing, said The Economist. For a president "obsessed with trade imbalances," this news "should be troubling."