Donald Trump’s tourism push fails to lure visitors

{"text":[[{"start":8.4,"text":"The Trump administration’s attempt to lure millions of tourists to the US is falling flat as visitor numbers drop following this summer’s football World Cup."}],[{"start":17.84,"text":"The number of overseas visitors to the US — which counts all non-citizens arriving from foreign countries excluding Mexico and Canada — was down 5.7 per cent year on year in the nine months to the end of September, according to figures released this week by the National Travel and Tourism Office."}],[{"start":36.12,"text":"It follows a 2.5 per cent decline in 2025, the first annual drop since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Some of the steepest declines came from western Europeans, the country’s largest overseas tourist source market, where visitor numbers have slipped 8.7 per cent so far in 2026."}],[{"start":56.24,"text":"The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that the US last year lost about $8.4bn in international visitor spending compared with 2024."}],[{"start":65.8,"text":"“We’re leaving an immense amount of business on the table,” said Adam Sacks, president of consultancy Tourism Economics. “If anything, the market has further deteriorated since the World Cup.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":78.48,"text":"President Donald Trump said last year that a drop-off in international visitors was “not a big deal” but in recent months he has moved to reassure the US tourism industry. Last month, he met travel company executives — including from Hilton, Marriott and American Airlines — to discuss efforts to meet an ambitious goal of reaching 100mn international visitors by 2030."}],[{"start":100.64,"text":"The target would be well above the record 79.7mn tourists who visited in 2018 and more than 45 per cent higher than the 68.3mn visitors who came in 2025."}],[{"start":113.36,"text":"Spearheading Trump’s travel push is Australian-born rightwing influencer Nick Adams, who was appointed in March to a new position as diplomatic envoy for American tourism."}],[{"start":123.44,"text":"Adams — who describes himself online as an “alpha male” — acknowledged at a conference in October that there had been “a dip” in international tourism in 2025 and said calls for boycotting travel to the US were “hurting small businesspeople”."}],[{"start":137.32,"text":"He said he would look to refute notions that the US is “inhospitable” by bringing in hospitality experts to train border staff and replicate the welcome of the “best of the best hotels” when travellers arrive in the US."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":150.64,"text":"Adams said travellers who returned home following the World Cup would boost demand by exposing the “absolute and total nonsense” of perceptions “that you may be detained, that your phone might be confiscated, and that your social media might be pored over” when visiting the US."}],[{"start":165.76,"text":"However, travellers have reported increased scrutiny at the border during Trump’s second term. Searches of electronic devices were up 33 per cent in the nine months to the end of June compared with a year earlier, according to US Customs and Border Protection."}],[{"start":180.56,"text":"Geoff Freeman, president of the US Travel Association, blamed the media for scaring prospective tourists by “looking to find a negative story” and cherry-picking one-off incidents, such as Somali referee Omar Artan, who was denied entry to the US for the World Cup. “One referee out of several million people actually shows how welcoming the country is,” said Freeman."}],[{"start":202.88,"text":"But other travel executives said that Trump’s dramatic expansion of immigration enforcement and wide-ranging restrictions on international visas were responsible for the cooling demand."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":213.2,"text":"Sacks at Tourism Economics said he did not anticipate any increase in international appetite for visiting the US without a change in “the combative rhetoric, the antagonistic approach to trade and the disregard for historical alliances”."}],[{"start":227.28,"text":"Roberto Alvo, head of Latam Airlines, the largest South American carrier, said passengers had been reluctant to travel to the US because of Washington’s immigration policies, including a flurry of last-minute entry permit cancellations for people from countries such as Chile."}],[{"start":243.44,"text":"“People say they are not planning a trip to Orlando with their family when all of a sudden, three days before, you find out that one person from the family is revoked. Then what do you do with your plans?” he said."}],[{"start":255.28,"text":"Other tourists are staying away for financial reasons. Adrian Neuhauser, head of South American carrier Abra, said exchange rates were pushing travellers towards Europe instead of the more costly US. The dollar has strengthened 3.4 per cent against a basket of six peer currencies this year."}],[{"start":273.16,"text":"Strong domestic travel has helped offset the shortfall of international travellers. Domestic tourism makes up 87 per cent of travel spending in the US, according to the US Travel Association, and grew at an annual rate of 4.1 per cent in the year to August."}],[{"start":290.72,"text":"But international holidaymakers “tend to pay higher rates and tend to stay longer, so you have more steady business and [ . . . ] pricing power,” said Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Woronka."}],[{"start":302.18,"text":"One tourism board official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that for businesses reliant on overseas visitors, the two years before the US presidential election in 2028 were “just about surviving”."}],[{"start":318.49,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792722630_9133.mp3"}