Trump’s border policy is bad for the travel industry: research

We guess you don’t REALLY need research to tell you that Donald Trump’s Muslim-centric travel ban being upheld by the Supreme Court is bad news, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it confirmed.

Following Tuesday’s announcement that Trump’s ban, which targets several Muslim-majority countries, will be upheld, a new survey was released by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) quantifying the impact of the ban on the industry.

According to the association, the initial reaction to the first travel ban should have been enough of a warning sign, with more than $185 million in business travel bookings lost in one week.

A GBTA poll, conducted last week, found that nearly one-quarter (23 per cent) of US travel buyers reported the administrations executive orders on travel have driven at least some level of reduction in their company’s travel.

Additionally, 37 per cent expect some level of reduction going forward because of this week’s ruling to uphold the ban.

More than half (52 per cent) of U.S. travel buyers also reported concerns of increased traveller harassment in general due to this Administration’s policies and messaging on travel and immigration, while 40 per cent worry about a reduction in business travel to the United States.

Around 62 per cent of those surveyed believes the Trump administration is having a negative impact on business travel.

As GBTA points out, for every one per cent decrease in business travel spending, the US economy loses 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in GDP, $3.3 billion in wages and $1.3 billion in taxes.

“GBTA is deeply concerned about the long-term impact of these survey results, and the global perception of doing business with the United States,” the assosiation said in a statement.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and as the United States changes its policies about inbound travel, others are likely to do the same.”

Featured image credit: The Chicago Tribune